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FEATURED STORY · August 28, 2008
Fire Marshall, DCI crime team help local authorities determine cause of blaze that claimed Sterling Hansen, 20
The body of a Coon Rapids man found by Coon Rapids fire fighters inside a badly burned house died of toxic levels of carbon monoxide in his blood due to smoke inhalation, according to Coon Rapids Police Chief Joel Roetman.
Authorities say Sterling Lee Hansen, 20, was the only victim in the fire, which extensively damaged the two story dwelling in which he was living at 918 South 5th Avenue in Coon Rapids, about a quarter mile south of Coon Rapids Country Store.
Hansen was the grandson of Dick and Betty Knudsen of rural Coon Rapids. He was raised in Emmetsburg, the son of Knudsen’s oldest daughter, Michelle. Hansen had lived in the house for the past year and was employed by Dan Royer.
Coon Rapids firemen and Coon Rapids part-time police officer Kent Gries responded to the fire call around 6 a.m. on Saturday morning where they found the house engulfed in flames. Initially, firemen didn’t suspect anyone was in the home since there were no vehicles in the driveway, but when the body was discovered in the living room, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa State Fire Marshall’s Office were contacted for assistance.
Because of unusual circumstances at the fire scene, authorities are treating the death as suspicious. The Division of Criminal Investigation Crime Team also responded to initiate a joint investigation into the cause of the fire and cause of death. Together, the investigators spent all day Saturday at the scene, gathering evidence and conducting interviews.
Stories in the incident quickly circulated the community, inflamed by the disclosure that Hansen had been involved in an altercation several hours earlier at a party about 6 miles south of his residence. On his way home, Hansen drove his truck into a ditch, and was picked up by Tyler Olesen of rural Coon Rapids, who drove him home. Olesen was reportedly the last person to see Hansen alive, about 4 a.m.
Hansen’s roommate, Josh Smith, was out of town at the time of the fire.
Eerily, another man died a day later in a barn fire outside Audubon on property owned by Allen and Susan Klocke. Officials later said the two incidents are not related.
Final results of the autopsy taken on Sunday are not yet completed, and the Fire Marshall’s Office has not yet issued its report.
Betty Knudsen said she was told by authorities that the preliminary autopsy revealed that Hansen had just eaten. Knudsen said authorities said it was possible the fire started in the kitchen while her grandson was sleeping. When awakened by intense flames, he struggled up and tried to escape but could not negotiate through the house to the front door. He may have stumbled over several pieces of furniture in one area of the living room piled there in order to make room for a pool table.
Asked to comment, Roetman said there are several scenarios that authorities are investigating. “So far the cause of the fire is purely speculation,” said Roetman. “I gave them (Knudsen family) several possible scenarios on how the fire could have started, knowing what we know. It has been narrowed down to two rooms, but we just don’t know a specific cause yet.”
Hansen reportedly had a girlfriend and a 2 year old daughter, but they had recently moved to South Dakota.

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