DES MOINES, Iowa — The Indianola Fire Department says they arrived Friday morning to the National Balloon Museum in Indianola after an employee called saying they entered the building and smelled smoke.
The department arrived and controlled the fire, but now, National Balloon Classic CEO Staci Scheurenbrand, tells Local 5 they lost things in the fire they could never recover.
Scheurenbrand and her team rent office spaces inside the museum, and as she walked into the office Friday morning, she realized something was off.
"As I was walking up to the door, I smelled smoke. when I walked in, I really smelled smoke. So, I immediately left and called 911," Scheurenbrand said.
That's when Indianola Fire Shift Capt. Thad White and his team responded.
"We got called out when we made entry, we found heavy smoke in the building, some fire damage in the front lobby area," White said.
Thankfully no one was hurt. The fire department is still investigating what caused the fire, though White said the building does not have some safety measures that could have helped prevent it from spreading.
"The building does not have a sprinkler system, so it would have helped in this situation contain the fire to a smaller area as well as not allow it to grow to where it had a lot of smoke damage," Whit said.
"There are a few historical items that were in this front quarter that are damage. Doesn't look like a ton of structural structural more paint and glass and flooring and walls," said Eric Martens, board president of the National Balloon Museum.
Martens told Local 5 the employees were working hard on a grand reopening that was scheduled for April 6 to get the community out to enjoy the new updates they have on this building, but that event is being held off for now.
"Anyone in the ballooning world knows that we are a huge, worldwide industry but a very tight family. Please know that the outpouring of love and support, and the offers to help are being heard, and we are immensely grateful," the National Balloon Classic said in a Facebook post.