Wood Stove Suspected in Warehouse Fire

Mason City, IA---Mason City’s Fire Marshal could release an official cause of a large warehouse fire on Wednesday.

At this point the strongest possibility is a wood stove used to heat the building is to blame.

Warehouse owner John Boland said there was a fire in it Monday night and everything was fine.

He had been working in a small woodshop located next to the warehouse and left around 5:30 p.m. to go to a friend's wake.

Then he went home and got a call about a building on fire and thought it was one next to his.

But when he arrived just after 7 p.m. he discovered it was his own building.

"I just stood here and bawled," said Boland.

The substitute teacher's hobby shop with 9 vehicles inside and a collection of around a hundred valuable scale model cars was a total loss.

"That’s very heart breaking right here," said Boland, who said most of the lost vehicles were collectible cars and trucks.

Two of them, a Corvette and an MG belonged to one of Boland’s former students.

"I’ve seen my dad cry one time and that's when his mom passed and when he called on phone Monday night he was he was at that point," said Randy Boland.

He and his sister traveled up from Des Moines to comfort their father and get a closer look at the destruction on Tuesday.

For the Boland’s the shop was more than a bunch of vehicles.

"I grew up out here," said Randy Boland.  "I mean I’ve had friends call me up all day the worked with me out here, helped my dad out at different times and stuff, can't believe it."

Greg Kipper of Mason City is one of several people who stopped by, or slowed down on South Pierce Avenue to get a closer look at the destruction.

Kipper said he will remember the camaraderie, the vehicle restorations and the laughter they shared at the hobby shop, "It was a lot of fun I’m gonna miss this place truly."

Kipper said his step-daughter was getting ready to buy a Ford Pickup that survived the fire with some damage when a large garage door collapsed on it.

Investigators are turning their attention to a wood burning stove that was separated by a wall from the warehouse.

Boland finds it hard to believe the stove could be responsible.

He figures he lost at least $330,000 total in the building and its contents and that is probably a conservative figure.

Boland did have insurance on some of the vehicles, but he believes his former student did not.

He is already thinking about what's next and rebuilding.

"I’m not gonna quit, I still have my toys and I’m still gonna work on old cars and have fun that was my passion ya know," said Boland.

Boland was planning on taking a few of his classic cars down to the local mall in a couple of weeks.

That’s not going to happen now he said.