A large fire that torched a vacant building in downtown Marshalltown on Saturday night is considered suspicious, according to Fire Chief David Rierson.

Drivers who passed the wreckage at the 108-110 building on West Main Street slowed down to get a closer look on Monday as a crew worked to clear debris and mitigate any other potential hazards. The city of Marshalltown acquired the building, which most recently housed Odds and Ends and the Wax Xtatic record store before the latter moved to its current location at 18 W. Main St., from previous owners John and Lisa Blabaum less than a month ago.

It suffered major damage during the 2018 tornado and has been vacant since December of 2019. Marshalltown City Administrator Jessica Kinser said the city’s goal had always been to demolish the building along with neighboring structures at 102-104 W. Main St. and 15 S. First St.

“This is still our plan, but the fire has created a new set of circumstances to work with. We are still very much game planning things today, but have taken the steps to disconnect what utilities remained to prepare all three for demolition,” Kinser said in an email.

Mayor Joel Greer also said representatives from an engineering firm would be on site within the next day or so, and the plan is to work with a contractor he said has been good about taking down other buildings in town.

“That may have saved the city some time in terms of accelerating (the process). It was a goner and already planned to be demolished anyway,” Greer said. “We knew the structure was too far gone to salvage.”

The lingering question of whether the fire was the work of an as-yet-unidentified serial arsonist remains after the Marshalltown Fire Department (MFD) recently reported nine unsolved arsons over the last year, eight of which occurred in vacant buildings north of Anson Street. Rierson said investigators will have a better chance to take a look at how the fire started as the demolition crew digs up the remnants, and they also plan to utilize security camera footage from other businesses for any potential clues on the culprit. At this point, Rierson said, there is “nothing concrete” to tie it to the other arsons, but he hopes the investigation will provide a clearer picture.

“That’s something we’re working on,” he said.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.