Woman dies after fire at La Porte City Casey's

UPDATE: A woman rescued after being trapped inside a burning convenience store early Wednesday morning in La Porte City has died, family members have confirmed.

Family members identified the woman as 53-year-old Colleen Paradine.

Crews responded around 3:52 a.m. to the Casey's General Store, 403 Highway 218 North. La Porte City Firefighter Shane Clark said they were able to get her out quickly.

“We had to use some saws to cut through some doors to get in, just due to the location she was at,” said Clark, who was the line officer on the call.

Paradine was then transported to Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo. Clark declined to comment about the extent of her injuries.

Clark said Paradine was at the store early to make donuts. The store does not open until 5 a.m.

The store is considered a total loss, with extensive heat and smoke damage inside, Clark said.

Firefighters said the fire was not connected to the donut-making process, because it appears to have originated in a different area, near some electrical appliances. Clark said the fire is not considered suspicious. An official with the state fire marshal's office was expected to investigate the blaze, to determine an exact cause.

About two dozen firefighters from La Porte City and Gilbertville assisted at the scene.

Bill Walljasper, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Casey's General Stores, said officials were still gathering information about the fire, and did not have an cost estimate for the damage. He said a cause has not been determined.

“They're looking at a couple areas in our building as to what the cause of the fire may have been,” Walljasper said.

Walljasper declined to comment about the medical condition of the injured employee and referred all questions to the authorities.

“We don't have a lot of fires, or situations where employees get hurt, thankfully,” Walljasper said. “So we're very cautious about giving out any employee's information until all parties have been notified.”

More on the story from the

Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.