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A fire of undetermined origin gutted the office area of Southeast CO-OP Service Company on Highway 25 in Dexter, leaving considerable structural damage and also damaging a company vehicle parked nearby the office area.

The fire, which is believed to have started in a restroom near the front office area of the building, was reported to the Dexter Fire Department at 5:41 p.m. on Saturday. Firefighters found the southwest portion of the building, which primarily houses the company's offices, totally engulfed upon arriving. According to Dexter Fire Chief Al Banken, three sizable plate glass windows had already been blown away from the intense heat of the fire before firefighters arrived on the scene.

Although the building houses quantities of farm chemicals, Banken explained that there was never a direct threat of the chemicals posing a problem to firefighters on the scene.

"We ventilated the building and the fire was primarily contained to the front of the structure," Banken said, "and we were on the scene until about 9:30 p.m."

As is routine when a commercial structure suffers significant loss, Banken explained, the fire was reported to the State Fire Marshall's office, who in turn reported the incident to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Officials from both agencies were on the scene over the weekend and have taken their findings back to their respective facilities to analyze, with results expected in a matter of weeks.

"We have to reason to believe that this fire was arson," Banken confirmed Monday. "We are simply following routine in calling the authorities, given that we're dealing with a commercial structure and given the substantial damage."

Banken confirmed that employees were at the facility as late as 3 p.m. on Saturday, at which time nothing out of the ordinary was witnessed.

According to the CO-OP's General Manager Mike Galloway, efforts are underway that will enable the CO-OP to resume full operations as expediently as possible. Galloway reported that the fertilizer, equipment and chemicals were not damaged in the blaze, but that a temporary area would need to be secured from which to conduct business, since the office area was a total loss.