(LaCrosse, IN) - An outdoor plastic cigarette disposal container appears to be linked to a Thursday evening fire that destroyed a longtime business in La Porte County.  The fire occured at Heinold & Feller Tire Company & Lawn Equipment, located at 16 South Washington Street in LaCrosse.

 

On the company’s Facebook page, officials say the structure appears to be a total loss.  About a dozen volunteer fire departments and hazmat experts responded.

 

"God bless all of the incredible people at the 14 fire departments that were involved in getting this out.  We are sorry for the disruption this will cause at our LaCrosse location but we are thankful for all of your prayers and patience as we sort this out and move forward" said owner Joe Feller in his post.

 

No injuries were reported. 

 

LaCrosse Fire Chief Aaron Rust said the business had been closed for about two hours when an individual showed up at the fire department across the street and reported the cigarette disposal receptacle next to the structure was burning.

 

Once the flames from the container were extinguished, which were shooting up to six feet into the air, Rust said he and a few other firefighters discovered a charred stretch of foundation made of wood on the building.  It wasn’t long before “we had smoke puffing from the eaves” and flames shooting from the half barrel-shaped roof.

 

Rust said the receptacle was just inches from an outside wall made of wood and covered by sheets of tin.  He said it appears the fire spread from the container to the foundation and worked its way underneath the metal to the wood of the exterior wall then spread rapidly once reaching the roof.

 

About a dozen other fire departments were called and responded to help protect nearby structures.

 

Rust said the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office will assist in trying to officially determine the cause of the blaze.  He said a cigarette butt produces enough heat to melt hard plastic but another possibility is a piece of paper or something else flammable was placed into the container and made contact with a burning cigarette butt.

 

In addition to selling new tires and lawn equipment like mowers and weed eaters, the business offered tire replacement, front end alignments, oil changes, brake replacement and other lower level service work on passenger vehicles.

 

The shop was also heavily used by farmers for similar purposes.  A service truck which would be dispatched to farms to repair tractors along with other machines and related equipment was also lost in the blaze.

 

Joe Feller said his family owned business along with a much larger site in Valparaiso where it was founded in 1958 by his father, Lynn, and uncle, Ray.  A year or two later, Feller said both men were joined by another one of his uncles, Orie, in opening the LaCrosse shop.

 

Feller said his plan right now is to rebuild depending on how much he’s compensated for the loss.

 

“I’m just hoping I get good results from my insurance company so things can happen,” he said.