An early-morning commercial fire Tuesday that destroyed a large portion of a building housing Lawn and Landscape Solutions is being considered suspicious in nature. Warrenton Fire Chief Mike Owenby said the cause for the fire has not been determined and the case remains under investigation. The state fire marshal’s office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spent most of Tuesday trying to determine where the fire started and the cause. Detectives also were on the scene Tuesday interviewing business owner James Reid and employees. Earlier this year, Reid expanded his lawn service business and constructed a new facility at 602 Progress Parkway located on the South Service Road near the Preferred Outlets of Warrenton. The renamed business, formerly known as James Reid’s Lawn Service, opened at its new location in July. Owenby said investigators don’t believe the fire was electrical in nature and there is a “cause for reason” to believe the fire may have been intentionally set. He declined to elaborate due to the ongoing investigation. He did note, however, that the presence of an ATF agent was part of a training exercise and was not related to firearms or ammunition being found inside the facility. Owenby said firefighters were dispatched at 12:48 a.m. and upon arrival viewed heavy flames shooting from the roof of the garage area located in the rear of the building. The back section started collapsing soon as more crews arrived on the scene. A small tractor and pickup were parked in the garage area and were a total loss. Firefighters were able to salvage all of the business’s records and items stored in the front office area, according to Owenby. That section suffered heavy water and smoke damage. Reid said it was disheartening to arrive on the scene and see the structure heavily gutted by the fire. “I’m going to look at this as a positive,” Reid said. “We’re going to rebuild. I’m not going to let this hold me back.” He added, “We’re thankful no one was working. Thank God everyone is OK. It’s just materials we can replace.” Firefighters from Wright City, Marthasville, Hawk Point and Wentzville responded to the scene, Owenby said. Crews were on the scene for more than five hours.