Fire was erupting from the chimney of the rock house west of Iola on Monday night. No one was hurt. The house belongs to Dori Hunt. Fire chief Chase Waggoner said it was “a pretty…

There’s a term for somebody getting acquainted quickly with a new job, from meeting scores of new colleagues, to learning the ins and outs unique to that position. Chase Waggoner knows it well.  “I’m certainly…

Chase D. Waggoner, formerly a fire chief in Girard, has been hired as Iola’s next fire chief. Waggoner’s hiring was announced Tuesday by Interim City Administrator Corey Schinstock. Waggoner also has worked in Missouri and…

Iola Fire Chief Tim Thyer has seen a lot of changes over the 33 years he’s worked for the department, but the basic mantra remains the same: “Put the wet stuff on the red stuff.”…

About 10 years ago, Iola purchased a fully equipped, state-of-the-art Pierce pumper truck for the Iola Fire Department, for a shade more than $500,000. For two years, the truck worked like a dream. But a…

With Independence Day approaching, the crew at the Iola Fire Department will have their hands extra full with the likelihood of holiday-related mishaps as well as tinderbox-conditions due to a lack of rain.  To them,…

Iola fire crews extinguish a fire that destroyed playground equipment at an Iola Housing Authority apartment complex in the 300 block of North Second Street. The blaze also damaged shutters of a nearby apartment. It…

The Iola Fire Department responded to a blaze at Mid-West Fertilizer early Wednesday morning in what was determined to be a total loss for the company. The department took a call at 2:30 a.m. notifying…

Growing up the son of a police chief, a young Tim Thyer was constantly slipping off to the Iola police department to be by his dad?s side. Law enforcement was in his blood. Firefighting, not…

Hope Unlimited is teaming with the Iola Fire Department to offer “Coffee With a Cop Day” Tuesday. Free coffee and casual conversation will be offered from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at Around The Corner, at…