(Malvern, Iowa) – The owner of a fourth-generation family-owned grocery store in Malvern, issued a statement on social media this (Tuesday) morning. Tom Mulholland wrote in a Facebook post, “To the firefighters and first responders that came from miles around; I say “THANK YOU. Firefighters from every community within 30 miles came to help, 17 communities was the number I heard, and it was the efforts of all of them that saved my neighbors, and mere words cannot express my gratitude for that. I am facing many headaches, issues, and problems from this fire for months to come, but knowing that my neighbors are not injured or facing devastating losses that they had no control over makes this easier.”

He also apologized for a boil order issued, when the City of Malvern’s water supply was exhausted to help fight the fire. “I apologize for the inconvenience it will cause for hundreds of people,” Mulholland said. He added, “I have reached out to people at my warehouse and they are working on getting a water delivery to the community as soon as they can. I wish I could do more to help.”

Part of Mulholland’s early-morning post included a message to his great grandfather and grandfather who ran the store more than a decade ago: “I am sincerely sorry for the loss of what so many worked so hard for, for well over a century. The blood, sweat, and tears of many rest there, and memories for many more.”  Tom Mulholland promised he would work to insure employees are taken care of. But less than 12-hours after the fire, the future of the business was uncertain.

Mulholland Grocery Store fire (Photo from the Mulholland Grocery Facebook page)

Mulholland wrote “To my customers; I have no idea what the future holds at this time. If you had already placed orders with us for the holidays, I apologize that you will be forced to scramble to cover what you were expecting. To my friends, customers, and supporters near and far, again, words cannot express the gratitude for the love and support I have been shown over the past 12 hours.”

The first crews arrived on the scene at around 5:45-p.m. For the next six-hours, over a dozen fire departments and numerous personnel worked to contain the flames and prevent adjacent structures from burning. Just before the roof collapsed at 7:30-p.m. an urgent “Evacuate the roof!” call went out, with firefighters scrambling to safety. No injuries were reported. A cause of the blaze was not immediately known.

Among the fire departments and emergency personnel responding to the scene at 409 Main Street in Malvern, in addition to Malvern Fire, were crews and equipment from: Hastings, Silver City, Glenwood, Macedonia, Carson, Sidney, Henderson, Randolph, Shenandoah, Oak Township Fire and Pacific Junction.