MASON CITY – A building on the property of the Mason City Harley Davidson dealership that burned last year was demolished this week.
The Mason City Fire Department responded to a report of smoke coming from a building at the corner of 7th Street SW and Washington Avenue, owned by Thomas E. and Ronald D. Minert at 6:30 AM on Monday, November 17, 2014. The fire was reported by a passerby. On arrival, firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the roof area and overhead doors at 17 7th Street SW. Within minutes, flames were coming from the center of the building on the east side near the alley. The Captain on duty determined conditions were too dangerous for entry, so the fire was fought from the exterior with master streams and hand lines. Firefighters remained on scene until 2:25 PM that day. Investigation determined the fire started above the ceiling area in the east central portion of the building and spread throughout the entire roof and attic area. Probable cause of
this fire is faulty electrical wiring located in the attic area.
This week, the building was demolished. A crew was on the scene Monday taking the building down, and was finishing up loading debris Wednesday.
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I was in the area the morning it was reported, seems funny, there was a 4×4 in the area with a blade on the front, going thru the alley real slow. I was making a deposit at the Credit Union and when I pulled out , the driver was on the north side of street, out of his truck like something was wrong, This was at about 6:15. By the time I got to work, I heard the place was up in flames. Just thought that was too weird !! Just saying ……
Be careful what your asking,”where are the mason city electrical inspectors?” “What are they inspecting?” Do you want inspectors to show up at your door, for no apparent reason? Once they get in it’s almost for certain they will find something wrong, that goes for electricians to. Case in point, a couple weeks ago Alliant showed up at my brothers trailer house unexpected. They said that they were going to inspect his gas meter. He watched them as they walked around back and looked at the…
meter. They then came backed to the front door and said that they needed to inspect the gas line inside for leaks. He said that there were no gas leaks and has never had any. They said that they would shut the gas off if he didn’t let them in. He let them in and they found two things wrong. First, the gas line wasn’t up to code, “international” code that is. WTF, this is mason city, why do we need an “international” code. Off went the gas until it was replaced with a international…
approved gas line.The only difference in the two lines is that the international line has a plastic coating.He had the line changed to international code standards, and they turned the gas back on. The other problem was his water heater,it wasn’t up to code for a trailer house, even tho he has had it for 4 years, they said it was dangerous and needed to be replaced.He told them that a salesman from Menards said it was safe for trailer house use. This is what could happen when inspectors come…
How difficult is it to scrape away wiring and get a fire going to appear electrical to fire inspector? I’ll bet there’s a big fat insurance policy waiting to be cashed in. Any follow up NIT?
Building was old, seemed like it could have went anytime. I’m anxious to see the new development that might go in it’s place.
Lots of old buildings don’t spontaneously erupt into flames. If old faulty electrical wire was present, where are the city or state electrical inspectors who are aupposed to assess buildings before they burn down? Seems like Harley gets a lot of benefit from the doubt just because people want to see something new. I’ve read a few arson stories where other people were convicted for trying such “improvement” techniques. Whois in the back pocket of Harley?
The building didn’t, spontaneously erupt into flames, it smoldered for quite some time. I was in the area around 10:00 AM and smelled what I thought was something electrical that was hot. Usually when I smell something like that I look to see if there is smoke or flames coming from somewhere, there was not. It wasn’t until the next day that the fire was discovered, about 24 hours later. As for being intentionally set, that’s personal opinion.
I’ll reiterate based on NIT Publisher’s own words: If the building was old and could “go at anytime”, where are the mason city electrical inspectors? Of course I don’t have proof, but fire marshalls and investigators should be looking at all aspects when investigating old building fires. Does the business owner gain benefit from the old building burning down? Is there a sizable insurance policy covering it? Was the insurance policy recently acquired? Seems too convenient.
Look around town. What are they inspecting? Seems like they drive around looking for taxpaying, law-abiders who didn’t shovel the grass on top of nonexistent sidewalks. Call them up and ask them what’s up and report back to NIT.