A business near the Eastern Iowa Airport in southwest Cedar Rapids has been mostly destroyed by fire. David Coach, a public information officer for the City of Cedar Rapids, says the name of the business is Custom Cabinets and Millwork. “There’s a lot of wood and combustible materials in there — a spray booth and those type of things that deal with this type of a business, so it does create a little bit more of a hazard for the fire fighters,” Coach says. “We were inside for about an hour, trying to put it out from the interior and the roof started to collapse so the decision was made to pull the fire fighters out for their own safety.” The fire call came in just before seven o’clock this morning. About 30 fire fighters from Cedar Rapids, Ely and Swisher battled the blaze. No word yet on what caused the fire. Fire fighters kept putting water on a home next door to the business, to keep the blaze from spreading. “Fortunately, the winds aren’t too bad today,” Coach says. A few fire fighters fell down on the ice that formed on the streets outside the business, but none were injured. Billowing clouds of smoke rose from the building, but it did not affect flights into and out of the Eastern Iowa Airport.
