Fire Destroys Strawberry Point Boarding House

A fire has destroyed a building in Strawberry Point, that housed a local shelter.

Firefighters were called out just before 1pm Monday, to Circle of Life Ministries, located on Commercial Street in Strawberry Point. Emergency workers arrived to find the building was engulfed.

Residents of the boarding houser were evacuated; no one was injured. Shelter residents were taken to Strawberry Point City Hall, where the city staff, Red Cross, and Clayton County Emergency Management helped them relocate to temporary housing.

The building was totaled; a cause of the blaze was not determined.

The Strawberry Point Fire, Police, and EMS were assisted by all of the city's employees from all departments, Clayton County Deputies and Dispatchers, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa DNR, Clayton County Conservation, Edgewood Fire and Ambulance, Elkader Fire department, Iowa DOT, many local residents, as well as the Back Home Country Cooking restaurant that opened to help with food and shelter.