Minivan fire in Cedar Rapids parking ramp 'suspicious'

An early-morning vehicle fire inside a downtown Cedar Rapids parking ramp is considered suspicious, officials said.

Firefighters responded to the Fourth Avenue Parkade at 1:38 a.m. Wednesday when a city worker reported the fire. The first crew to arrive found a minivan fully engulfed with flames on the ground floor of the parking ramp in the 300 block of Fifth Avenue SE.

“They put it out and found some things that made it seem suspicious,” said Capt. Andy Olesen, who declined to elaborate due to the ongoing investigation.

The 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager minivan was completely destroyed. Olesen said it is registered to a couple in Mount Vernon, and officials will try to contact them. No damage was reported to the parking structure or other vehicles.

No one was injured in the fire. Olesen said firefighters try to attack vehicle fires at 45-degree angles, because metal parts in the bumpers and shocks of vehicles can shoot out toward them. Several years ago, one of the metal parts shot into a concrete wall at the St. Luke's Hospital parking garage, he said.

“If they get heated up enough, the metal parts of those will shoot out and separate real violently,” Olesen said. “They're pretty wicked little things.”

An investigation is continuing. Olesen said the proximity of wiring, combustible materials and fuels make it difficult to investigate vehicle fires.