Disaster dodged: Delivery driver finds small fire at Cedar Rapids restaurant

A delivery truck driver discovered a fire in its early stages this morning and helped avert a disaster for a northeast Cedar Rapids restaurant.

James Carney, 40, a driver for Reinhart Foods, was dropping off food at Zeppelins Bar and Grill, 5300 Edgewood Rd. NE, about 5:40 a.m. when he smelled something burning and saw smoke coming from a storage room next to the kitchen. He called 911 and fire crews arrived shortly after.

Firefighters found three totes of smoldering laundry, including aprons and towels, and took them outside. The fire had not spread beyond the totes and the restaurant sustained only minimal smoke damage.

The fire was ruled unintentional, attributed to spontaneous combustion of the laundry, which was likely still hot after being removed from the commercial dryer and placed into the totes, said Greg Buelow, spokesman for the Fire Department.

In a statement, Buelow reminded businesses to cool laundry before putting it in totes, and recommended using metal containers with a lid, when possible.

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