Morgan Finke
Published: October 24, 2008

BALLTOWN, Iowa – It has been an emotional morning for the citizens of Balltown, as they came to watch a city icon burn to the ground, for the second time in ten months.

Breitbach’s Country Dining accomplished the impossible after the restaurant burned down ten months ago today.
Fire Chief Joe Specht explains the explosion that caused heartache less than a year ago, “They went through one tragedy, and now here they are back to ground zero again,” said Specht.

The feeling of déjà-vu was overwhelming for some.

“When I saw it on the news this morning, I thought are they bringing up past news? I mean it was just so unbelievable, you know are they talking about the old fire?” said Jerry Sahm

Emergency crews were on the scene early this morning.

“We were dispatched to the scene at 3:40 am. Our main concern was to protect the other homes that were near the building,” explained Chief Specht.

They were able to maintain the flames, but the rubble and disappointment left behind, might be harder to clean up.

Morgan Finke can be reached at Morgan.Finke@loras.edu