CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KWWL) -- The Cedar Rapids Fire Department responded to a fire at the Men's Room Hair and Beard Parlor early Wednesday morning.
Crews were called around 2:30 a.m. to a report of a fire on the side of a building.
When crews arrived, they were able to quickly put out most of the fire from the outside through a window.
KWWL spoke with the owner, who believe that the fire was a targeted incident as Molotov cocktails were thrown into the building.
Owner Chris Krause said, "We have our problems in this area of town with loitering and panhandling and stuff like that. But someone breaking the window and throwing six different bombs inside of here, I mean, that was a targeted attempt."
Unfortunately, this was not the first time that tragedy Krause has faced.
Krause added, “We had a location on Mount Vernon Rd. that got hit by a semi truck and we evacuated out of there and moved in here in May. We are just now starting to get settled into this space and get comfortable and make the improvements to the building, and now this happens. It’s been tough.”
Though Krause and his staff look forward, as they are eager to open back up to the public.
Barber Emmanuel Taylor told KWWL, "To a lot of guys, this is their bread and butter. We've been around for a long time, so it's a good staple in the neighborhood and in the community, and we hope we get back sooner than later."
The building is reported to have light fire damage in areas and moderate smoke damage, but the owners are left to pick up the pieces.
Krause credits a quick response from the fire department in preventing the fire from reaching the ceiling and growing from there.
The fire remains under investigation. The parlor plans to reopen on Thursday.
Krause said, "I'm hoping we can just focus on the work that we do in the morning, which is doing haircuts for the community."
No one was injured from Wednesday's fire.
