MASON CITY – At approximately 4:00 p.m. Thursday, Mason City Firefighters were called to 504 1st Street NE. There was smoke visible, coming out the window and front door.
The building, owned by Jim Marinos of American Realty, has four apartments. Three apartments are rented out and all residents were out of the building and there were no injuries. The upper, west apartment is occupied by a young lady, and that’s where the fire started.
(PHOTO: Jim Marinos, owner of the building, confers with an MCFD official as a shaken tenant stands by.)
“I turned on the stove on for about three to five minutes to heat up. When I opened the door, black smoke rolled out all over,” the woman said. She had black smudges under her nose and was very emotional and shaken up. Her mom, who was at LaJames College, came down to check out the situation and to see that her daughter was all right.
“There were sparks that came from the wires on the pole,” said one witness. This information was reported to Alliant Energy. Alliant arrived and turned off the electricity and gas to the whole building.
The maintenance man for American Realty said, “The inspector just went into the apartment to check the wiring and to see if it will be safe to turn the power back on to the rest of the building. That way the rest of the residents can go back in and have electricity for tonight.” He was not sure if the cause would be found out Thursday night. He also said, “Most of the smoke damage and smoke smell was confined to that one apartment. The other three aren’t bad at all.”
A call to the Mason City Fire Department Friday afternoon revealed that the fire is still under investigation and no further information could be released.
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