What caused the downtown Winona fire?

Fire damage at Winona Islamic Center
Rubble is all that remains of the Islamic Center of Winona, which was destroyed Friday in one of the largest fires in Winona's history.
MPR Photo/Rupa Shenoy

Investigators are looking for clues to the cause of Friday's early morning fire in downtown Winona - one of the largest in the southeastern Minnesota city's history.

So far there's no evidence the fire was anything but accidental.

Rubble from the building where fire officials believe the blaze began early Friday morning - the Islamic Center of Winona - has been carted to the city's central fire station where investigators are combing through the debris.

Many residents and others affected by the blaze assume it was an accident, and are focusing on the work of recovery.

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Amy Jo Marks owns two businesses adjacent to the Islamic Center -- her clothing store and coffee shop were damaged in the fire. She says reporters have asked repeatedly about possible tension or conflict with the mosque.

"I was like you know what, there's no story that I know of," she said.

Mohamed Elhindi , president of the Islamic Center and chair of the local school board, concurs.

"We never have a problem," he said. "We never had somebody call said we're going to do this to the mosque, or you shouldn't have a mosque here. We never feel threatened."

So for now, all residents and fire victims know for sure is that there's a lot of hard work to do.

"Since our building is pretty much gone, I don't think we're going to be able to get back in there," said Torry Moore, who owns a sporting goods store called Sole Sport. "To keep the business going we're going to have to find another location in the area to get in to and figure out what inventory was lost, which I guess is probably most of it."

Marks' clothing store - Pretty Things on Third - is covered in smelly soot.

"We just got all our fall inventory in so, the store's loaded and it's unfortunate because it's a lot of nice, high end stuff that's just isn't going to be usable to us anyway," she said.

Elhindi and others from the Islamic Center have set up an account at Winona's Eastwood Bank for donations toward rebuilding.