Ackley, IOWA --- On Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at approximately 3:03 p.m. the Hardin County Dispatch Center received a 911 call concerning a man on fire behind the Ackley Super Foods Grocery Store. Ackley Fire Department, Ackley Police Department, and the Ackley Volunteer Ambulance Service were dispatched to the alley behind the store. Upon their arrival the garage at 509 1st Avenue (near the store's parking lot) was totally engulfed in flames, however citizens had already extinguished the flames from the man on fire.

The victim, now identified as 27 year old Derek James Harrop-Miller, was air lifted to the Iowa City Hospital's Burn Unit. However, Mr. Harrop-Miller died enroute to Iowa City. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday, August 19, 2009 in Iowa City.

The fire and death remain under investigation by the Ackley Police Department, the Ackley Fire Department, and the Office of the Iowa State Fire Marshal.