Overview
- A deputy spotted heavy smoke near Highway 30’s Exit 204 around 3:30 p.m. Saturday and found a car fully engulfed in flames.
- The scene was south of the railroad tracks in the 3400 block of N Avenue in a remote, brushy area that complicated the initial check for occupants.
- After firefighters extinguished the blaze, responders found an elderly male deceased in a deep ditch with standing water near the driver’s side.
- The Tama County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation and consulted the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
- Tama Fire Department, Tama EMS, and the county medical examiner responded to the scene, and the victim’s identity has not been released.