An unattended candle has been identified as the cause of the early morning blaze at 1306 Second St. in downtown Perry Wednesday that destroyed an upper-story apartment and caused extensive water and smoke damage throughout the building.
According to a report from Perry Volunteer Fired Department Chief Chris Hinds, two telephone calls from occupants of the apartments about 4:45 a.m. The two-story building had office space on the first floor and three apartments on the second floor.
Hinds said one apartment was vacant, but the front unit was occupied by Nikki Strand and the rear apartment by Kelsie Holland.
“The first caller went on to say she was possibly trapped and unable to get out of the burning building,” Hinds said. “The Perry Police Department was able to get the occupant who thought she might be trapped out of her rear apartment and ultimately out of the building.”
The PVFD arrived shortly before 5 a.m. “to find the front one-third of the second story of this two-story building totally engulfed in fire,” the fire chief said. “The fire had breached the false ceiling in the front apartment and when the fire “flashed over,” which it had done prior to our arrival, it traveled the length of the building in the open space above the ceilings of the other two apartments.”
He said the firefighters made their initial attack by going up the front stairs and entering the front apartment.
“The crew was able to get a quick knock down of the fire, which allowed them time to search the other two apartments for any signs of the fire extending into them,” Hinds said. “Firefighters found no signs of fire in either of the other two apartments although they had suffered smoke damage. Firefighters had to get into that open space above the false ceilings and extinguish a few hot spots before they deemed the fire out.”
The fire was contained largely to the front apartment, with smoke and water damage throughout the rest of the building.
The quick response by the Perry firefighters prevented the fire’s spreading to neighboring buildings, Aspen Retirement Services to the north and a Christian gift shop to the south.
The building, dating from 1906, is owned by Viivi Shirley of Waukee, according to Dallas County records.
The commercial space on the building’s ground floor housed the offices of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1149, which represents the interests of 952 meat-processing laborers at Tyson Fresh Meats in Perry.
The Perry Police Department, Perry Public Works Department and Perry First Responders also responded to the incident.
While on the scene of the blaze, an officer of the Perry Police Department recognized someone as the subject of a Dallas County arrest warrant. Tiara Dawn Stanek, 24, 1306 1/2 Second St., #1, Perry, was arrested for probation violation on an original charge of unlawful possession of prescription drugs.
