Firefighters respond to flames in former Cedar Health care facility in Charles City

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Firefighters from Charles City and area departments responded early Saturday morning to a report of flames showing from one of the windows in the former Cedar Health care center building at 807 5th St. in Charles City.

According to a report posted by the Charles City Fire Department, the call came in at 4:19 a.m. and when crews arrived at the building they were able to make entry through a side door immediately adjacent to the room that had previously had the flames coming from it.

“After thoroughly saturating the room a search was performed to ensure the remaining rooms were not impacted,” the report said. Also responding to the call were mutual aid partners Floyd and Colwell fire departments.

Firefighters returned to quarters once all the rooms had been cleared, the CCFD said.

“We spent about 1.5 hours on scene and about an hour for clean up,” the report said.

Cedar Health, a 57-bed nursing facility in Charles City, closed its doors in December 2017.

Most recently the city of Charles City had been considering the property as one of several possible locations for a housing project, possibly using tax credits that could be available through the city’s Thriving Community designation.

County records show the 29,000 square-foot building, which was built in 1969, was purchased in 2022 by End of the Road LLC, an Omaha company, for $95,000 in a foreclosure, forfeiture or tax sale.