KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- Kirksville firefighters spent more than three-and-a-half hours Tuesday afternoon making sure smoldering insulation was fully extinguished before it could cause bigger problems.
It happened at 12:20 p.m. at the old creamery building at the corner of Main and Cottonwood streets in Kirksville.
Battalion Chief Marc Jefferson from the Kirksville Fire Department told KTVO there was really no fire; it was just smoldering fiberboard used as insulation inside the walls of the building.
Investigators said a carelessly discarded cigarette could possibly be to blame.
Crews used a skid loader with a jackhammer attachment to break into an interior wall so they could remove the affected fiberboard and make sure a larger fire didn't develop.
The building is owned by Kirksville attorney Michael Mulford.
His office is located in one corner of the building.
Jefferson said the part of the building where Tuesday’s incident happened is rented by Northeast Regional Medical Center, which uses it for storage.
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