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Arson fire in Fort Dodge under investigation

News

May 3rd, 2024 by Ric Hanson

FORT DODGE, Iowa [KCCI] — Two best friends turned co-business owners are in shock after security footage shows someone setting the clothing in their Fort Dodge business on fire early Thursday morning. Dreyzon Phillips runs Fear to Dream, where he designs apparel. Taj Lowrey runs Just for Kicks, where he designs shoes. Together, the two opened a store called FTD in Fort Dodge last October.

Video from a security camera shows the moment someone broke the front window of their shop and stepped inside Thursday at 1 a.m. Seconds later, the person can be seen using what appears to be a torch to light the clothing on a few racks on fire. Not even a minute later, the flames can be seen growing and some falling to the ground.

Lowrey and Phillips say they didn’t know what was going on until 8:30 in the morning. That’s around the time both say they received a call from the person who owns the shop next door and their landlord. Both 21-year-olds quickly made it to the store and saw that the fire was out.