Agency head’s house destroyed by fire

CEDAR RAPIDS - A local human services agency director and his family narrowly escaped their Cedar Rapids house during a fire early Sunday.

LaNisha Cassell heard popping and crackling and saw strange lights in the darkness outside their house at 2815 28th Ave. SW around 2:45 a.m. Sunday, said her husband, Karl Cassell, executive director of Horizons, A Family Service Alliance.

Those lights were reflections of flames leaping from the house - flames that went undetected for up to two hours because the family had disabled malfunctioning smoke detectors earlier in the year, Cassell said.

'It was by the grace of God that she woke up,” Cassell said of his wife.

The fire started in the garage, where the family had parked their 2005 Chrysler Pacifica after coming home around 12:15 a.m. from the Iowa State University vs. University of Northern Iowa football game in Ames, Cassell said.

Investigators ruled the fire originated in the vehicle, which had mechanical problems on the drive, said Greg Buelow, spokesman for the Cedar Rapids Fire Department. 'Exact cause is undetermined but is likely a mechanical failure, such as the area of the catalytic converter,” he said in an email.

When LaNisha Cassell discovered the fire, she and Karl hustled their children, Lydia, 10, and Solomon, 6, from the house minutes before it became engulfed, Karl Cassell said. Neighbors, who saw the fire first, had already called 911 and firefighters arrived shortly after the family left the house.

The family had disabled smoke detectors throughout the house last winter because the system kept malfunctioning in Solomon's room, waking the children, Karl Cassell said.

A GoFundMe page set up by Deena Vasser to help the Cassell family had already surpassed its $15,000 goal Tuesday afternoon.

'I'm blown away and somewhat embarrassed by the attention,” said Cassell, who has now asked for the collection to be stopped. 'I can't say thank you enough.”