By: Hollie Hojek
hhojek@kcautv.com
"It's very hard to believe... just sad," said Zola Beckman, of Lake City.
The community of Lake City, Iowa is having a hard time dealing with a tragedy that took the lives of four people Tuesday morning. According to Lake City Fire Chief, Mel Alcox, the fire broke out around 1:30 Tuesday morning. By the time crews arrived, the house was already engulfed in flames...
"Oh it was a blaze and like I said probably within 5 minutes, or 2-3 minutes of us being here, I said to myself if there's somebody in there... we are going to have a problem saving them," said Alcox.
There were four people inside the home at the time who all died. Twenty-two year Tyra Pierson her own 10-month old son Xavier, as well as her two siblings, 8-year old Madison and 3-year old Wyatt. People in the community say they sympathies with the Pierson family during this difficult time.
"I just feel sorry for them, I couldn't imagine what's going through their minds.. how they can go on and keep believing you know," said Jeff Claiborne, Lake City.
The fire crew says it didn't hear or see any fire alarms in the home. It appears the fire was started by a metal lamp cord, that somehow got stuck in the cushions of a couch. The cushions over heated and caught on fire. Alcox says the homeowners were doing some remodeling so insulation was exposed on the walls, which caused the fire to spread even quicker.
According to the fire chief this is the worst fatal fire Lake City has seen in over 25 years.
