Iowa Department of Public Safety
Eugene T. Meyer, Commissioner
215 East 7th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50319
Telephone Number: (515) 725-6182
Facsimile Number: (515) 725-6195

CORRECTION: FIRE RELATED DEATH IN ACKLEY UNDER INVESTIGATION

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. Mr. Harrop-Miller died at 5:38 p.m., about an hour after he arrived at the hospital. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday morning at the State Medical Examiner's Office in Ankeny.

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.

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