Two southwest Iowa businesses were gutted by fire last night. Several fire departments spent the night in Clarinda trying, unsuccessfully, to save Johnson Tire and Muffler and Carpenter’s Body Shop, both housed in the same building. Clarinda fire chief Roger Williams says the state Fire Marshal’s office will try to determine what caused the blaze later today. He says there were a lot of flammable materials in each building that could’ve sparked the fire.Fire departments from Red Oak, Essex, New Market and Shenandoah helped battle the fire, which Chief Williams says was a huge help. No one was reported hurt in the fire. Only one vehicle and some business records could be taken from the building as the fire was well involved when firefighters arrived.
