Glen Strandberg
Staff Writer

Late Saturday morning, and well into the evening, a few Wyoming business owners and a crowd of curious onlookers learned that warm weather and melting snow can cause a major fire.

With the big snowfall of March 2 feeling the heat of a spring sun, a large sheet of ice and snow slid off the roof of Sunrise Mattress Factory, 26522 Fallbrook Lane, and knocked off the exterior power source.

“The power line hit the side of the metal building, causing an explosion that started the fire in the warehouse,” Wyoming Fire Chief Dennis Berry said.

The warehouse, owned by Gene Hallberg, connected Sunrise Mattress to both Premier Marine and Sederholm Finishing.

Greg Van Natta, who owns Sunrise Mattress Factory, was working with his general manager, Mike Tieden, when it all happened.

“The lights started flickering and we heard an explosion on the side of the building,” Van Natta said. “The building shook and (we) ran outside.”

Van Natta raced around the corner and saw fire coming out of the side of the warehouse, but it wasn’t actually coming from his showroom.

According to the business owners and Fire Chief Berry, when the ice and snow sheared off the power source located at the service entrance, the electrical explosion actually started the fire in Sederholm Finishing, which Berry described as a small cabinet shop.

After seeing the flames reach as high as 40 feet, and initially hearing that his entire store and factory would be gone, Van Natta was stunned to see his section of the building still standing. The firewall between Sunrise and Sederholm’s held.

“We never got any fire inside of Sunrise Mattress. It’s all smoke and water damage,” he said.

Premier Marine was back in business on Monday morning. Sederholm Finishing wasn’t as lucky.

“The warehouse and the small cabinet shop was completely destroyed,” Berry said.

After the fire

“We were there till 6:30 — it was a long day,” Berry said.

“We had, I think, nine fire departments, mutual aid, 13 engines, three aerials, 10 support equipment and 123 firefighters. It was a major blaze. It took all the help we could get there.”

Everyone from Hallberg to Van Natta to Sederholm praised the efforts of those 123 firefighters as well as the police department.

“The fire departments did a great job. That was a big undertaking there’s no doubt about that,” Hallberg said.

Those guys were just great,” Van Natta shared. “They came really fast, very professional and got things going right away.

“There were just fire trucks and people all over here.”

Now comes the hard part as all parties involved must meet with insurance agents, appraisers and wait to see what’s next.

“We’ll clean up and go from there,” Van Natta said. “We’re kind of in a hold mode. Right now we’re just going to keep moving forward and take it a step at a time.”

With Hallberg involved, those steps might come quickly.

“I’m sure Gene is going to be rebuilding as soon as he possibly can,” Jim Sederholm said. “I know not too much grass grows underneath his feet.”

Hallberg anticipated having the entire area cleaned up by the end of this week, and already had a contractor coming in on Monday, March 12 to give him a price on a new building.

“It’s been a little hectic; a lot of things to think about and get organized,” he said. “They say they could have stuff on site in six weeks.”

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