Editor’s note: this story was inadvertently printed with the incorrect date. This has been corrected.
Photo courtesy of Charlie Nixon and the Coon Rapids Enterprise
Authorities have no definitive answers as of yet to the cause of a March 28 overnight fire that destroyed a downtown Coon Rapids landmark building. Coon Rapids Police Chief, Andy Klein, says they and the Iowa Fire Marshal’s office have gathered evidence from the scene to be analyzed and an investigation into the incident is ongoing. The blaze is believed to have started on the second story of the 100-year-old Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) building, where there was a storage area and an apartment housing one tenant. Klein says that during their investigation, his department became aware of the possibility that other, non-fire related laws had been broken. As a result, arrest warrants have been sought on that tenant, 38-year-old Collett Ziegmann. She will be charged with fourth-degree theft, a serious misdemeanor, in reference to a stolen Bomgaars’ gift card as well as with possession of a firearm by a felon, a class D felony. Klein adds they are expecting the return of the Fire Marshal along with insurance investigators as clean-up of the site is conducted and that they are expecting more answers on the point of origination and cause of the fire soon.
