SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — UPDATE (April 14, 2:48 p.m.): Officials say that they have determined the cause of a fire on Wednesday at a Northside Sioux City home.

According to a release from Sioux City Fire Prevention, the fire at a home in the 3100 block of Jackson Street was determined to be caused by the improper disposal of smoking materials.

The release said that the home has been red-tagged by city officials.

When the fire ignited, there were two occupants inside the home but they were able to get out without injury. The Red Cross is assisting the family.

More than 8 fire apparatus were called to the scene, the release said. 25 firefighters and investigators handled the situation. Two minor injuries among the firefighters were reported.

The structure took on major fire and water damage, according to the release.

Sioux City Fire Prevention is asking that residents avoid any activities that ignore fires due to dry and windy conditions. Additionally, they’re asking that if anyone has any additional information regarding this fire or any other fires in the area residents call 712-279-6377.

———————

PREVIOUS: Crews extinguished a house fire in Sioux City’s Northside Wednesday.

Sioux City Fire Rescue received a report of a structure fire in the 3100 block of Jackson Street around 10:40 a.m.

Sioux City Deputy Fire Marshal Ryan Collins told KCAU 9 that there was one person and a pet in the residence at the time of the fire. They escaped the fire safely and were uninjured.

He added that the fire started in the attic. It took more than two hours to extinguish the fire.

Collins told KCAU 9 that the wind didn’t help the situation and usually causes them to bring in more trucks.

“With today’s conditions, with the high winds, it creates erratic fire behavior inside structures,” Collins said. “We want to make sure that we have enough personnel on scene in the event that the fire spreads to another home. The last thing we want to have is to be short-handed when resources are desperately needed, so we usually call in additional resources just to make sure we can handle a situation such as that.”

Firefighters had to collapse part of the roof in an attempt to put out the fire. Crews stayed on the scene to monitor hotspots. Collins believes the house may be red-tagged until properly fixed.