A hot nail was apparently the cause of a major fire in Storm Lake Tuesday.
Storm Lake’s fire chief says the fire at the supply warehouse was accidental.
Officials think the fire started in a covered loading dock area, inside a semi. Investigators believe a palet wood mulching material was ignited by a hot nail during a grinding/mulching process and then the smouldering material was loaded onto the semi.
Damage estimates could run as high as $5 million. Thirteen different businesses use the 150,000 square foot facility. Nobody was hurt. The fire was discovered early Tuesday morning, but there have still been flare ups today. Many of the walls collapsed and fire crews have had to bring in heavy equipment to move the walls to get to the hot spots.
Some of the businesses used the building for storage and had tires, oil and cardboard stored there, while one made wood pallets in the building. The building and all its contents were lost in the fire, according to authorities on the scene.