(Denison, Iowa) – Authorities in Denison have determined spontaneous combustion of stained rags in a cardboard box that was on top of a commercial washing machine was the cause of a fire early Thursday morning, that damage a laundromat in Denison. Our sister station KDSN reports three different investigators worked to determine that through oxidation, the rags provided their own ignition source. Due to the overall height of the washing machine and box of rags, the fire quickly reached the ceiling level and spread horizontally across the ceiling. Radiant and convection forms of heat transfer ignited additional materials creating a larger fire and significant heat.

Denison Fire Chief Cory Snowgren told KDSN, “I definitely give credit to our first-in engine company and the work they put in to quickly stretch a line and force entry through a steel door to go after it. There was a significant fire load and if the fire would have reached the far wall, it would have been a much larger fire both in size and property loss. Manilla (Fire) went right to work on venting the roof with our truck company releasing considerable heat and smoke, and Vail and Dow City stretched a 2nd line and worked side by side with our interior companies going after it. All companies really did a great job of being aggressive and safe. You can’t have one without the other.”

Denison firefighters responded a little before 1-a.m. Thursday, to a structure fire at Boysen Laundromat, in Denison. No injuries were reported. The flames were contained primarily to the east interior end of the building, with smoke damage throughout the rest of the structure. Officials estimated the blaze caused $40-to $50-thousand dollars damage to the building and $100-to 150-thousand dollars damage to the building’s contents.