Quick response

A quick response from the Newton Fire Department and a Baxter tanker truck helped keep this Thursday fire at 3400 Highway 14, north of Newton, from engulfing a mobile home. Resident Bob Dennison said he was using a propane heater to thaw out frozen pipes, trying to stay away from anything flammable, but the underside of the home caught on fire. Dennison and his fiancé, Cheyenne Parsons, along with children and some cats, all escaped unharmed. Newton Fire Marshal Mike Knoll said some insulation might have caught fire underneath the trailer, which he said suffered some interior smoke damage.