Fire at ZimMarss ruled arson

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Slightly more than a week later, investigators said they were confident someone set fire to the ZimMarss nightclub.

Firefighters were called to ZimMarss nightclub at 15th and Locust in Terre Haute in the early morning hours of Oct. 26.

Fire investigators were a little suspicious from the beginning because some items and an undisclosed amount of money were missing from the building.

The damage was pretty severe. Some neon lights and other electrical items had been plugged in at the time of the fire, so it took awhile for investigators to be able to trace the wiring to rule out an accidental cause.

Investigators said the fire started on a couch in the back of the nightclub. It appears accelerants were not used.

"The motive is that it was theft or burglary and they attempted to cover their crimes and any trace of evidence they may have left there like fingerprints by setting a fire," said Terre Haute Fire Department investigator Norm Loudermilk. "Now the perplexing question is, who did it?"

Loudermilk said the night before the fire, there was a argument over money between some entertainers who didn't get paid. He said it's possible that could be the motive, but at this point, nothing and nobody has been ruled out.

The owners of ZimMarss are still waiting to hear back from the insurance company regarding how much money they will collect. They said to repair everything that was damaged would cost between a $250,000 and a $500,000.

They hope they can at least open the front bar by New Year's Eve, but there's still a lot of work left before that can happen.

Anyone with information on this fire is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 812-238-STOP.