Newton man arrested for ‘suspicious’ house fire in Kellogg

KELLOGG – No one was injured in a house fire Sept. 15 in Kellogg, but authorities did arrest a man who has been charged with arson and burglary.

Edward Jacob Wheeler, 39, of Newton has been charged with second-degree arson and second-degree burglary, both Class C felonies. Wheeler has since been transported to the Jasper County Jail. The fire, which was determined to be “suspicious” before Wheeler was arrested, is still under investigation.

At the time of the fire, first responders and witnesses had difficulties contacting the person who lived in the house, located near the 300 block of East Street. Less than an hour after James Pietz, of Newton, called 911, the tenant of the house was eventually reached by phone and told about the fire.

Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty said fire crews searched the home a number of times since the tenant could not be contacted.

“Everybody we talked to said if the front door was locked or padlocked — which it was — he’s probably not there,” Halferty told Newton News at the scene. “It looks like it started in the back of the house. As of right now the fire guys are telling me it’s up in the attic so they’ll have to ventilate and put some more water on that.”

Several area fire departments — Kellogg, Gilman, Newton, Reasnor and Sully — responded to the house fire, along with sheriff’s deputies. Iowa State Patrol assisted with traffic control. Crews were able to extinguish the fire.

Pietz was on his way to Rock Creek State Park to scout some deer hunting spots for the upcoming season when he spotted flames “shooting out of the kitchen window.’ Pietz turned back, parked in the driveway and checked around the house to see if he could hear anybody inside.

“Then I went to both neighbors’ houses to beat on their doors, trying to see if they were there. They weren’t. I called the cops when I was backing to the driveway,” Pietz said, later recalling it was around 12:34 p.m. when he dialed 911. “…There were no numbers on the house so it was hard to tell EMS where (I was).”

Harvey Olsthoorn, of Kellogg, owns the house but does not live in it. Olsthoorn said he had just finished eating lunch in Newton when he drove up to the scene on his motorcycle and saw a number of first responders by the building.

“I said, ‘That’s my house!’” Olsthoorn said. “…The flames were coming out right there in the kitchen. And flames were coming out in the middle of the roof.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com