Destroyed but Determined: Three Weeks After Devastating Fire, DPS Returns to Full Production

On Saturday, July 28, Kris Van Cleve, Co-Owner of Dental Prosthetic Services (DPS) in Cedar Rapids, IA, got a call she’ll never forget: her 16,000-square-foot laboratory—completely renovated just two years earlier—was on fire.

She and her business partner, Dennis Becker, rushed to the scene and, in the end, the news wasn’t good. While luckily no one was inside at the time of the blaze, a natural gas explosion and resulting fire in the removables department burned most of the production area while the rest of the building sustained heavy smoke and water damage; there was very little to salvage and the laboratory was uninhabitable. 

Although stunned by their loss, the two owners didn’t wallow—they got to work. “Walking through the wreckage was very surreal, but you can’t take time to feel sorry for yourself. You just have...