Investigators look for source of Albert Lea auto dealership fire

(ABC 6 News) – The Dave Syverson Auto Center in Albert Lea is looking for answers after a fire broke out in the building Wednesday night.

The Deputy Chief with Albert Lea Fire Rescue said the first started just after 8 p.m. Wednesday night and it took about an hour, to an hour and a half to put out.

There were no injuries reported. There was one employee in the front part of the building when the fire started, they left shortly after reporting it.

"Pretty significant damage to the roof sections due to the heat, buckled all the roof joists," said Deputy Chief Jeff Laskowske with the Albert Lea Fire Rescue.

"By the time we could get to the scene of the fire, we put water on it probably the first 10-15 minutes to try and get into those deep seed areas just because of the amount of heat we had in the area."

The trucks in the shop area were also heavily damaged. But there is no damage to the rest of the building.

"As far as the auto center goes…the service, parts, sales, we’re all fully operational there. It was all contained in a small area in our heavy truck body shop. So that should be up and running shortly as well. We’ll know after some more investigation," said Travis Stortroen, the general manager of Dave Syverson Auto Center.

Stortroen said it’s too early to tell how long it will take to rebuild, or when that process will begin.