The State Fire Marshal's Office has been called in to help investigate an intense fire that destroyed a Waterloo welding operation Friday. Firefighters spent more than six hours in heavy snowfall battling the blaze which was reported around 5:30 p.m. at Con-Trol Container Systems in the 1600 block of Grandview Avenue, near Waterloo Auto Parts just north of Broadway Street. Chief of Fire Services Pat Treloar called in three off-duty firefighters as large flames and black billows of smoke filled the skyline. The last crews left the scene shortly before midnight; fire staff met with the property owner and tenant Saturday morning. Con-Trol Container Systems, a division of Matcon, leased the 9,000-square-foot metal pole building from L.C. Osborn and used it for welding metal storage racks. While there were no injuries reported, the building and contents were a total loss. Treloar said police and firefighters will secure the scene until the cause can be investigated. Calling in the state fire marshal is common practice when high-dollar property damage is involved. There were several flare-ups during the blaze, presumably from welding products on site, and intense heat caused paint on the aerial truck basket to blister, Treloar said. An adjacent metal pole building was spared. "The boys did a really good job of saving the other building," Treloar said.