Officials still investigating cause of Malchow’s fire

ABERDEEN, S.D. (HubCityRadio.com) – Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire that gutted the Malchow’s Home Furnishings Building on Main Street Saturday night.

Randy Meister, Fire Chief with Aberdeen Fire and Rescue, said a ruling could be determined as soon as the next few days.

The building is currently blocked off. Meister said the fate of the building is in the hands of an insurance company.

The fire was reported shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday. Meister said a total of 45 firefighters battled the blaze throughout the night. He said the biggest challenge was the rate at which the fire spread.

There were people living in 13 of the 17 apartments on top of Malchow’s. Meister said that some people were in the building when the fire started, but all escaped injury.

In a press release from store, Malchow’s thanked the community for the outpouring of support and said it plans to continue serving its customers: While the fire that took our building may be a setback for our business, it is only a setback. After 74 years Malchow’s Home Furnishings is still here, and we are still in business and will continue to take care for our customers. Most of the furniture and flooring that was ordered is still being delivered to the warehouse. We will be starting deliveries and installation again very soon. Please give us a few days to get our temporary offices set up and we will have more information to follow. In the meantime if you have any questions about a delivery that was scheduled, a delivery that needs to be scheduled, or a questions about something that was ordered, please go to malchowsfurniture.com