A passerby prevents a home from burning down in Jefferson after alerting authorities.

According to the police report, at 9:21pm Sunday, Brandon Mitchell was driving down the 500 block of North Maple Street and noticed a fire in the upstairs portion of a home at 502 North Maple Street. Mitchell then called the law enforcement center and notified the homeowner, who was downstairs and unaware of the fire, and got her out of the home before authorities arrived.

Jefferson Fire Chief Jack Williams tells Raccoon Valley Radio when they arrived on scene, they could see flames coming from an upstairs bedroom. Fire crews contained the flames to the one room, but Williams adds there was smoke damage throughout the home. No one was hurt in the incident. Crews were on scene for about one hour and 20 minutes.

Williams says the cause of the fire was from an overloaded electrical drop cord. He reminds everyone to avoid using a cheap drop cord and watch what is plugged into it. He recommends never overloading a drop cord.

The Jefferson Police Department, Greene County Sheriff’s office, Iowa State Patrol and Greene County Emergency Medical Services assisted at the scene.

According to the Greene County Assessor’s real estate webpage, the 1900 home is owned by Lois M. Florman.