“I lost everything. My clothes, my bed, everything. I had nothing,” said Jose Lopez, owner of Cerro Grande Meat Market. At the time, he was also caring for a newborn.
In just a few hours last July, an unexpected electrical fire turned the Lopez family’s 15 years of work on their Hispanic market in Ottumwa into charred ash.
The July 6, 2025, fire left the building, which was underinsured, with a 30- by 60-foot hole stretching from the basement to the roof. There was no easy way to rebuild, Lopez said…