Greene Lumber destroyed by blaze

July 8 was a sad day in Greene, as a landmark in the community, Greene Lumber, was lost to fire. The family business was owned by Brett and Emily Ascher.
“We got the call about 3 o’clock this morning that this was fully engulfed,” Greene Fire Chief Neal Nordmeyer said.
A neighbor noticed the building ablaze and called in the fire at 3:08 a.m.
Within minutes, the Greene Fire Department was on the scene. Clarksville, Allison, Bristow, Marble Rock, Floyd and Charles City Fire Departments soon arrived to render mutual aid. The Butler County Sheriff’s office and Butler County Emergency Manage-ment Coordinator Chris Showalter assisted on the scene, and Greene EMS, the Butler County CERT team and the Greene Firemen’s Wives provided further assistance and food and water for the fire-fighters. Alliant Energy was called to shut off the power, and Black Hills shut off gas. The Iowa Northern Railroad was also called to keep trains off the track.
Three buildings and inventory were destroyed at Greene Lumber. The fire was so hot it also melted the siding on a house to the east, and a build-ing to the west caught fire but sustained minimal damage, ac-cording to Showalter.
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