KTIV NewsChannel 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and SportsInvestigators think electrical short caused grocery store fire

Investigators think electrical short caused grocery store fire

CORRECTIONVILLE, Iowa (KTIV) - Correctionville, Iowa fire officials say an electrical short may be to blame for a fire that has heavily damaged the town's only grocery store.

Smoke was reported shortly before five o'clock this morning in the downtown area, at the Valley Grocery Store.

When local firefighters arrived on the scene they found heavy smoke coming from one corner of the building.

Officials contained the fire in about four hours, and are now working to determine the official cause.

Most of the structural damage was contained to a storage room... but the store was shut down today. Cindy Belson, First Responder says, "A lot of water, a lot of smoke damage, especially to the back part. The front looks like it could be salvaged a little bit."

The store's owner, Mike Singh, was busy starting clean up today. He says it could have been much worse, and that they will try to reopen as soon as possible and get back to serving the community. Mike Singh, Valley Grocery Store owner says, "The fire just burned the storage room over there. I think the main store is ok, but we have some mud on the floor so have to clean it soon."

Singh says everything in the storage room looks to be destroyed. He says the rest of the store could be open again by the end of this week.

Smoke also damaged the First National Bank... which is located next to the store. The bank says it's temporarily working out of city hall.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials say initially it appears to have started as an electrical fire.