In the overnight hours Wednesday, the Coon Rapids, Dedham, Bayard, Carroll, Glidden and Ralston Fire Departments banded together to fight a fire that destroyed an historic 1911 building in downtown Coon Rapids. Fire Chief, Jeff Kracht, says they were paged out at 11:35 p.m., after passersby saw flames in the back of the building. The reality that a lot of help would be needed was clearly evident to Kracht and another Coon Rapids fireman right away.
Kracht says it is hard to provide an accurate number of the loads of water that needed to be brought in because they were all busy fighting the blaze, but he estimates it was around 20. When they initially arrived on scene, the flames were shooting out of the back windows on the north side of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F) building. The fire is believed to have started on the second story, which housed one occupant in an apartment and a storage area and a flower and gift shop, Ribbons and Roses, had recently closed on the first floor. Kracht says the upper part of the building sustained extensive damage.
The Northside Recreation Center to the west has apartments above it as well there was water damage to the lower level with smoke damage throughout. The U.S. Post Office on the other side sustained some water damage. According to Kracht, the original construction played a big role in keeping those adjacent buildings from suffering more damage.
The out-of-town crews were at the scene until about 4:30 a.m. or 5 a.m. Coon Rapids firefighters remained until around 4:30 p.m. as there were several flare-ups over the course of the day. Kracht says no official cause of the fire has yet been determined. The State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating and they are expecting to hear from them again within the next week.
