North Iowa Fire Destroys Home of Hall of Fame Basketball Coach

A weekend fire has destroyed the north Iowa home of an Iowa Hall of Fame basketball coach.

According to a GoFundMe account established on behalf of the Chad and Angie Erickson family, their home in Osage was devastated by fire on Saturday. The house and contents are a total loss and three family pets perished in the flames.

Osage Fire Chief Joe Krukow says firefighters were dispatched to the Erickson home just before 4 pm Saturday and were on the scene for almost four hours. The cause has not yet been determined. While the pets are presumed to be casualties, there were no injuries reported. 

Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office, Mitchell County Ambulance, Floyd Fire, and Rudd Fire also assisted in extinguishing the fire.

Chad Erickson is the Osage High School girls basketball coach and was inducted into the Iowa High School Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame earlier this fall. He’s also a fourth-grade teacher and assistant varsity golf coach. 

The GoFundMe description notes Angie Erickson has worked for years with countless cancer patients at the Mayo Clinic. Son, Noah, is a freshman at Osage High School and Drew Erickson is a second-year student at NIACC.

The goal was to raise $25,000. As of 8 am Tuesday morning, over $28,000 was raised for the Ericksons. A link to the GoFundMe account is included here.

Donations can also be made directly at CUSB Bank in Osage.