Iowa Fire Damage Exceeds Original Estimate

A new estimate of damages from a fire in Iowa’s Old Capitol building exceeds $5 million, about $2 million more than previously estimated by Iowa City fire department officials. The University of Iowa owns the old state capitol and expects its $2 million liability claim against Enviro Safe Air, the company charged with removing asbestos from the 160-year-old building, to cover the cost of the deductible on insurance for all the buildings on the university’s campus.

The fire, which occurred on Nov. 20, destroyed the gold dome of the building and was thought to have been started by an Enviro Safe Air employee using heat guns and propane torches, without university consent, during the asbestos removal process.

According to the The Daily Iowan, University Risk Management discovered additional damage while touring the old capitol on Nov. 28 with university insurance agents and representatives of asbestos-abatement company Enviro Safe Air.

University officials said the old building sustained more severe water damage than previously thought, as well as significant damage to plaster and artifacts. The question of paying for the cost of the repair remains. After filing the liability claim against Enviro Safe Air, university officials did not rule out refused possibility of a lawsuit if the company refuses to pay the claim.

Complicating the claims process is the question of who knew what, when. Two letters dated Sept. 13 and Oct. 25 from Shive-Hattery, the consulting company hired to oversee the restoration of the Old Capitol, warned the university of Enviro Safe Air’s unsafe work practices.

A University of Iowa law professor, John Whiston, said that those letters could hurt the school in the event that a lawsuit does arise. However, the university is looking into whether Shive-Hattery provided information concerning burn marks that were visible on the building’s dome in a timely and efficient manner.

Contractors from a firm hired to work on a different area of the building reportedly discovered the evidence of damage a month before the fire, but Enviro Safe Air allegedly ignored the warnings of the potential for fire.