Two fires in Jefferson City and one in Osage County have kept area fire departments busy.
Fire officials now believe the cause for a fire that destroyed an apartment house Sunday morning in Jefferson City was unattended cooking.
That fire at 201 Cherry Street left nine tenants without a home.
Investigators said during interviews one of the tenants admitted to leaving something on a stove which started the fire.
The cause for a fire at Cohen Auto Sales on St. Louis Road Sunday night is still under investigation.
Investigators said they plan to get into the building Monday to try and determine what started that two alarm blaze.
The initial report had the fire spreading from the garage into the front of the building. No one was in the business at the time.
The third fire occurred early Monday morning and destroyed a longtime nightspot in Central Missouri.
The fire at Ranibow Lanes Bowling Alley and Hooks Sports Bar on Mari Osa Delta Lane, near the Osage River, was reported just after 3 a.m. when an Osage County Sheriff's Department deputy drove by and saw flames.
Westphalia Fire Department Chief Jim Roark said flames were showing from one corner of the bowling alley when they arrived on the scene.
"It was pretty much fully involved when we got inside," he said. "After about two minutes inside we noticed the brick walls were cracking so we got out of the building. About a minute later the walls starte to cave in and so we stayed outside and made a defensive attack of the fire."
Linn, Freeburg, Argyle and Osage Fire Protection District Fire Departments were called in to help.
"We called in Jefferson City with an aerial truck which helped and we thought we had it contained to the bowling alley, but the fire spread to the roof and went over to the bar," Roark said.
Roark said they believe the fire started in a back corner of the bowling alley.
"The fire had been burning for awhile before we got here," he said. "No one was inside and the building was closed when we got here. No windows and few doors made it hard to get into the building."
The state fire marshall's office is investigating the cause the fire, but the business is considered a total loss.