Special Agent: Central City fire investigation ongoing

An investigation into the cause of a massive fire that destroyed two buildings at a Central City oil filter recycling company on Thanksgiving Day could take several weeks.

Luke Ossman, special agent with the State Fire Marshal Division, said the origin of the fire has been traced to the first of the two buildings that burned down in Thursday's blaze at Iowa Gold Distributing Environmental Services, 600 Iehl Road, off Highway 13, near Central City Road.

However, Ossman said the size of the fire and the amount of damage caused makes the investigation much more difficult, so there's always the possibility that the cause of the fire remains undetermined.

'At this point it's under investigation, but there's nothing that sticks out that it was set (intentionally),” Ossman said.

The fire was reported at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday and about half a dozen explosions occurred throughout the morning as firefighters tried to bring the fire under control.

The company's main building - where oil filter recycling takes place - appears to have survived the flames no employees were working when the fire started.

While fire officials on Thursday expressed concern over what chemicals could be in smoke, business owner Bob Walters of Friday told The Gazette any chemicals within the buildings would have been waste oil.

Linn County Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team on Friday gave the all clear regarding air quality in Central City.

Pramod Dwivedi, director of Linn County Public Health, said in a Monday email any combustion generates particulate matters in the air, but added that a short-lived fire - which was followed by rain - would not have caused any public health concerns or issues for the nearby population.

l Comments: (319) 339-3175; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com