2 hospitalized, released following Des Moines River Bend neighborhood fire

Two people were hospitalized early Monday because a large fire on Des Moines' north side.

Fire crews were called just before 6 a.m. to 1416 Sixth Ave., authorities said.

Des Moines Fire Department spokesman Brian O'Keefe said firefighters and police officers heard voices in the building and broke through plywood to rescue them.

Mercy Medical Center said two people were treated for smoke inhalation and released.

Sixth Avenue, a major commuter thoroughfare, was blocked between Clark and Forest avenues for most of Monday. It reopened around 6:30 p.m.

O'Keefe said officials are still investigating the fire late Monday and have no immediate cause.

Dozens of firefighters and police officers were at work for about three hours before extinguishing the blaze. Smoke filled the air around several buildings on the west side of Sixth.

In addition to Des Moines, West Des Moines, Windsor Heights and Johnston fire departments responded.

The block includes the former Urban Dreams social services nonprofit on the south and St. Vincent de Paul thrift store on the north.

Urban Dreams is now located at 601 Forest Ave.

The blaze also severely damaged the building next door, at 1412 6th Ave., which is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, said Breann Bye, executive director of 6th Avenue Corridor, an Urban Neighborhood Main Street program.

The 1913 home "was a rare example of a double-decker, double house," with units on top of each other rather than side-by-side, Bye said.

The former Urban Dreams building is a contributing structure to a National Historic District, she said.

"It's most important that no one was severely injured," she said. "But it's a sad day when we lose part of our historic urban fabric."

The buildings were owned by Terry Romp and Donna L. Romp Trustees, county records show.

"It looks like the fire damaged all three buildings," Bye said.