A faulty heating unit sparked a two-alarm fire at an apartment complex under construction in southeast Lincoln on Saturday morning, according to Lincoln Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Lloyd Mueller.
Mueller said a call came in at about 7:30 a.m. Saturday about smoke and flames at the East Lake Flats apartment complex at South 91st Street and Pine Lake Road.
Though the fire was extinguished in about 45 minutes, it was tough to put out.
“The fire was difficult to get through due to the cold and icy conditions outside,†Mueller said. “And the fire was within the structure itself, it was hidden within the floor joints of the apartment.â€
Officials said a faulty heating source caused the blaze. Construction workers had set up heaters to try to help set drywall.
The two units that caught fire will more than likely need to be completely redone, Mueller said.
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No one was injured.
Seven years ago: Ideal Grocery fire in Lincoln
You could say that Ideal Grocery was the “Cheers†bar of Lincoln grocery stores, where everybody knew your name.
In an age where “there you go†has sadly become an accepted norm for “thank you,†and "no problem" is the substitute for "you're welcome," Ideal Grocery was the epitome of old-fashioned values. The store's employees sincerely appreciated their customers and made them feel at home. “Thank you†was much more than lip service in the checkout lane, and it came with a smile.
Many years ago, the twin-weekly in Iowa that gave me my start in the newspaper business had a sign in its production area that said: “A customer isn’t an interruption of our work; they are the purpose of it.â€
The sign might not have existed at Ideal Grocery, but that business philosophy was certainly a way of life at 905 S. 27th St. It was introduced by founder Gardner Moore in 1920, passed on to several generations of the Moore family that followed him, and continued in 2012 when partners at Leon’s Gourmet Grocer bought the store.
Lincoln’s oldest grocery store, Ideal went up in flames during an early-morning fire May 19 that investigators have determined was accidental. They concluded that the blaze originated in the back of the store in the area of the compressor room.
From the trademark green awning to the employees’ green aprons, the welcome mat was always out at Ideal, roughly 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. The store was legendary for its flavorful cuts of meat and an equally prodigious produce department.
Having done a number of business stories during the store’s 20-year partnership with Neighborhood Extra, I looked at the piles of bricks, blocks and broken glass last weekend and sensed a loss of community, much like the neighbors who saw the importance of having thriving local businesses in their area and embraced the partnership.
Numbed by the loss, I reflected on the sadness of a landmark suddenly missing in the heart of Lincoln, where greetings and laughter had been replaced by cranes removing compressors and fire investigators looking at electrical wiring.
If a business could ever be considered a family friend, Ideal Grocery filled the role. From the hand-lettered signage to the best chicken salad in town, Ideal was many things to many people. Stopping for one of their patented flat-iron steaks to take home and throw on the grill was a much-anticipated reward after a long day at the office.
The silver lining in all of this, of course, is that the blaze occurred after hours and no one hurt. Buildings can be replaced.
Store partner Chad Winters said he and his partners are still considering what to do and haven’t ruled out rebuilding.