By Sam Parsons

A massive fire broke out in the city of Albia’s downtown square yesterday morning.

Officials say the fire started at around 8:30am at the R.O. Cramer Building on the south side of the Albia square. The lower floor of the building contained four businesses, and the upper floor contained apartment spaces. Firefighters from Albia, Eddyville, Bussey, Chariton, Centerville, and Moravia were on hand to battle the fire with ambulances from Monroe County Hospital also assisting. Agencies and businesses including the Albia Police Department, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe County Public Health, Appanoose-Davis-Lucas-Monroe (ADLM) Emergency Management, Monroe County Secondary Roads, and the Iowa DOT provided assistance as well.

Albia Fire Chief John Freshwater told reporters that firefighters were at the scene within about 5 minutes of the original call. The flames were so intense that search and rescue efforts in the upstairs apartments were unable to be completed at first. Firefighters then went to work on containing the blaze, and shortly after noon it had been contained to the R.O. Cramer Building. Due to the size of the structure, firefighters remained on scene dousing the fire into the nighttime hours.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has reported that human remains were found at the site this morning at around 8:47am. The local medical examiner was contact and identification will be made with the assistance of the State Medical Examiner’s Office. The Monroe County Sheriff’s office says that no names will be released until proper identification has been made and family has been notified.

The cause of the fire remains unknown and is under investigation.

The Red Cross is currently accepting donations to help the residents that needed to be evacuated. To donate, you may contact the Red Cross at 515-243-7681.

This is a developing story, and we will have more details as they are released.