Fire displaces Nelson Decorating

To turn a phrase, the smoke had hardly cleared before Jeff Kunz and Beth Wolner were back in business.

They’re the owners of Nelson Decorating Center in Owatonna, which sustained damages estimated at $350,000 when a fire broke out late Aug. 1.

The store – which is filled with furniture, flooring, window treatments and accessories – was saved by sprinklers, said Owatonna Fire Chief Ed Hoffman.

“The fire itself was very contained and very small,” Kunz said last week. “The primary damage was smoke and water.”

But in a business full of fabric and textiles, the smoke and water that accompanies a fire is damaging enough.

“We’re just in the beginning phases of getting through insurance,” Kunz said. “It’ll work out in the end.”

Still, repairs need to be done to the store, so Kunz and Wolner wasted no time in opening a temporary location. Their new spot is on the west side of the VFW, just a few doors down from the fire site at 121 Oakdale St.

Even before their temporary store was open, though, the couple was still working – doing in-home consulting.

“We’re working through the process,” Kunz said. “It’ll be Thanksgiving to Christmas time before we’re back in” the original site.

In the meantime, Wolner “is doing a great job of balancing all the current jobs running,” Kunz said, as well as figuring out the new location, “plus trying to figure out what to do with the store and getting that back up and running.”

Part of that includes “working toward getting new carpet displays and getting new furniture coming,” he said. “We’ll get the smoke damage and water out of the building – and away we go.”

Nelson Decorating Center opened in 1979, and is the oldest and largest flooring company in Owatonna, Kunz said. He and Wolner bought the business 12 years ago and moved it to Oakdale Street just over 10 years ago.

That’s where Owatonna firefighters responded to an alarm about 11:20 p.m. the night of the fire.

There was smoke visible and crews could see smoke inside the building, Hoffman said.

According to Kunz, the fire started from a rag used to apply furniture stain, sitting near a computer terminal.

“The fumes vaporized,” he said, “and when the fan kicked in on that computer terminal, that’s what ignited it.”

He agreed with Hoffman’s assessment of the situation.

“The water sprinklers did their job,” Kunz said, “and the fire department did its job.” The sprinklers triggered the fire alarm, which alerted authorities.

The incident could have been worse – much worse.

“You have two timebombs, sitting side by side,” Kunz said. “You have a furniture/flooring store, which has a lot of fuel in it, and you have Sherwin Williams sitting next to it. If that fire gets going …”

But it didn’t; firefighters fully extinguished the fire and remained on the scene for about 2 ½ hours to ventilate the building and help with the investigation.

“This is a great reminder for other businesses that have sprinkler and fire alarm systems to have them inspected regularly to ensure they are working properly,” Hoffman said.

Sherwin Williams did sustain extensive water damage to the counters and walls; the store’s front floor, cash registers and bathrooms all have to be replaced.

It remains open as usual, with some limitations, as the reconstruction continues.

Kunz and Wolner want to reassure the community they aren’t going anywhere.

“It’s just something that happened,” Kunz said, “and we have to deal with it.

“We’re going to rebuild there. We’re here to stay – today, tomorrow and in the future.”