‘It was a nightmare’

Dec. 4, 2010, is a day that Bill Miller will not soon forget.

That was the day a fire destroyed or damaged several buildings – some owned by Miller – in downtown Keota.

'I remember getting a call about 4:20 that Saturday morning,” Miller said. 'I got down here and helped the fire department get some stuff out of here.

'It was a nightmare.”

Miller owned the old Keota Lumber Yard.

He had rented the front to All-Around Fitness Center. The rear of the building, he rented as storage units.

According to reports at the time, teens driving around town early in the morning spotted the fire and called it in.

Craig McClenahan used to live a half a block from where the fire was.

'The guy who called it in said he saw a small fire in the back of two of the buildings and before you know it, it was a roaring fire,” McClenahan said.

Miller said that, to the best of his recollection, eight fire departments were on the scene battling the fire.

'I'm grateful for all of them,” Miller said. 'The fire departments worked great together.”

Despite the efforts of the fire departments, the fire quickly spread from the storage unit and fitness center to the Bermel Insurance Agency and an adjoining laundromat.

'The laundromat and Bermel Insurance buildings were both owned by Bermels,” McClenahan said. 'They were a total loss.”

The Westendorf Costume Emporium suffered smoke and water damage, but the building was not destroyed.

Miller said that as the fire spread and began to threaten his auto body shop, the fire chief said, 'He's lost enough. Let's make sure he doesn't lose the body shop.”

'That makes me feel good about living in a small town,” Miller said.

His body shop was saved, although the roof suffered some damage when the building next to it came down.

The fitness center and storage units, however, were total losses.

'(The fitness center) was the place for my morning running and workouts during the winter when weather kept me from running outside,” McClenahan said. 'I lost a pair of running shoes from my 2007 Twin Cities Marathon in the fire along with a few other shoes.”

Miller said that the fire was so hot, some of the boats that were in storage melted.

He said that he had heard that it took an estimated 1 million gallons of water to put out the fire.

In the aftermath of the fire, Miller had to deal with 17 different insurance companies, including his and those of others who lost things in his buildings.

The cleanup was difficult as well because it was deemed hazardous due to the asbestos in the old buildings.

'It was a lesson in reality,” Miller said. 'I learned a lot of lessons, especially with insurance things.”

Miller said that investigators ruled the cause of the fire to be arson.

'But that was the last I heard anything about it,” he added.

He was able to keep his body shop in operation after the fire.

'I was lucky enough to keep my body shop going,” Miller said. 'I was able to plug away, even though the roof leaked from the damage.”

He has since sold two of the lots that he cleared and built a new building on another one of his lots.

Miller has moved on, but the memories of that morning stay with him.

'I think about that every December,” he said. 'Every town parade with fire trucks bring back that memory.

'Sometimes, it does some good to talk about it.”