SIOUX CITY -- Break-ins at the former Jewish Community Center near Sioux City's downtown have resulted in a recent rash of fire calls.
A Monday night fire, which caused smoke damage, marked the fourth time in three days that Sioux City Fire Rescue has responded to the boarded up building at 525 14th St.
"The city is working with some contractors to board it up, so there are boards on the windows, yet they are breaking those boards off and getting in through the windows," Sioux City Fire Rescue Capt. Aaron Lisle said Thursday. "Some of the doors have even been pried open that were fastened shut."
According to the Sioux City Assessor's website, the current deed holder is Family Wellness Associates Inc., which purchased the property from Boys & Girls Home Residential Treatment Centers Inc. for $68,069 in May 2019. The property is currently assessed at $207,900. The building was constructed in 1949.
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Firefighters were dispatched to the building at 9:24 p.m. Monday, after a Sioux City police officer saw smoke while driving by.
When firefighters arrived, they found a fire on the floor of the basement. Lisle said no one was in the building when they got there.
"Basically, we had to throw a bunch of water in there, because it's kind of hard to get to down there," he said. "It was mostly just contents -- whatever they had in there. Whether they were burning stuff to keep warm, cooking, I don't know. It was more like actual paper-type stuff, wood stuff, which caused a lot of smoke damage in there."
At 9:15 a.m. Saturday, firefighters again went to the building after a passerby saw smoke. That fire was also found in the basement.
"It was boarded up, but there were some boards that were missing. We did make entry, and we did find one person sleeping inside there at that time in the fire room," Lisle said. "Again, it was just trash. We don't know why they started it or anything, or even if he did it. We don't believe he did it."
That day, the building was red tagged, according to Lisle.
Firefighters returned to the building at 2 a.m. Monday for a possible fire, but Lisle said nothing was found. At 7:50 a.m., a police officer was driving by and heard a hissing sound coming from the building.
"There was a water leak in there. The water is now shut off from the building," he said.
Lisle said the city of Sioux City is working with the building's owner to try to secure the property.
"We just don't want anyone that goes in there to get hurt and, obviously, we don't want our people to get hurt. It's just kind of a dangerous situation," he said. "We understand it's getting cold and people are just trying to get somewhere where they can get out of the weather. It's just a dangerous building."
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Dolly Butz
City Government & Features Reporter
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