Four-alarm fire brings dozens of first responders to sprawling West Des Moines construction site

A four-alarm blaze at a sprawling West Des Moines construction site prompted the hourslong response of several metro fire departments Monday evening. 

West Des Moines firefighters were called about 6 p.m. to 8950 Coachlight Drive on reports of smoke emitting from a structure, according to city fire marshal Mike Whitsell. That address — west of Jordan Creek Town Center, near 88th Street and Coachlight Drive — is a construction site for Cedar Ridge Village, a 200,000-square-foot assisted-living facility that was set to open this fall.

Crews were on-scene through the night, with some firefighters sticking around Tuesday to put out lingering flames.

"It was a very intense scene for the first couple of hours because the fire had a head start on us," Whitsell said Monday night. "The sprinkler system isn't up and running yet."

Making matters more difficult for first responders were near-freezing temperatures and a lack of finished pathways providing access to the blaze, Whitsell said. Several firefighters trudged through ankle-deep mud to try to quell the flames.

Once first responders got into the building, a roof collapsed forcing firefighters to work from outside the facility. Aside from ground hoses, four ladders were used to dump water on the structure.

Intense winds put neighboring properties at risk, the fire marshal said. 

"Those flames were really racing across that building with the wind," Whitsell said. 

About a dozen construction workers were in the mostly wood-built facility at the time of the call, but no injuries have been reported. The flames were contained to the Cedar Ridge Village Healthcare Wing and did not touch independent- and assisted-living areas, according to a statement from the organization.

"The fire was able to spread primarily because the sprinkler system was not yet activated since the building is under construction," a statement from the company reads. More than 2,100 sprinklers will be in the finished product, the statement said. The health care wing will have to be completely rebuilt, but residential areas sustained minimal damage.

Whitsell said most of the damage was confined to the southern, one-story section of the structure. The fire appears to have started there but investigators will know more once the fire is put out, he said.

"A large amount of the building did end up collapsing but well over half of the building is still standing," he said. 

The fire required assistance from Norwalk, Clive and Waukee fire departments as well as West Des Moines'. About 40 emergency personnel helped Monday night, Whitsell said. 

It took more than two hours for firefighters to get the blaze under control and it could take several more to completely extinguish the flames, Whitsell said. Firefighters were being rotated in and out to protect them from the cold and fatigue as temperatures dipped to 30 degrees after 8 p.m. Monday.

"It was ... a major fire incident because we had so much wood and the wind and the mud," he said. "Even though there was a considerable amount of damage, we were able to save a lot (of the structure) because we had an adequate water supply nearby."

Follow the Register on Facebook and Twitter for more news. Tyler Davis can be contacted at tjdavis@dmreg.com or on Twitter @TDavisDMR.

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