Burnet business remains open after weekend fire
The cause of the blaze has been ruled accidental.
Minuteman Rentals, 2301 S. U.S. 281, still remains in business because about 80 percent of its vehicles and products either were outside or in storage areas, Burnet Fire Marshal John Erskine said Tuesday.
“They are very much in business,” he said.
No injuries were reported in the blaze, which took firefighters about two hours to bring under control after 911 was notified about 11:15 p.m. Nov. 29, Erskine said.
When fire crews first arrived, the back of the building was aflame, Erskine said.
“The conditions were rapidly deteriorating,” he said. “It took everything we had to control it.”
The building was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Erskine said the business operators were able to salvage financial records from the front office.
After the flames were extinguished, Erskine and a U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent from Pflugerville investigated the blaze, the fire marshal said.
The investigation indicated “an accidental fire,” he said.
Minuteman owner John Visser said he expects insurance to cover most of the cost to replace the damaged building.
“Insurance should be taking care of it, from what I’m told,” Visser said. “I expect we’ll have a new building in three or four months.”
Visser said he was out of town when the fire occurred.
“I didn’t find out about the fire until 8 a.m. Sunday morning,” he said. “Someone called my business partner around 11:25 p.m. Saturday night, and they came out and just watched it burn.”
Visser said he’s already re-ordered most of the equipment lost in the fire, adding some of it should be in later this week.
“We’re wide open for business,” he said. “We’re knocking them dead out here.”