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Fire destroys two downtown storefronts
Fire destroyed two store fronts on Main Street Sunday, leaving the structures, containing LA Fashion and a children's church area for Abundant Life Church next door, damaged beyond repair.
Fire Chief Phil Gridley said the fire call came in at 5:45 a.m. and the first firefighter was on scene just three minutes later. As the chief arrived and began to size up the situation, he asked the base fire department to go on standby immediately. He woke the residents of an apartment in back of the structure and evacuated them.
For the safety of the men, the chief asked that electrical power to the whole block be turned off.
As firefighters began attacking the blaze both from the roof and from the inside, they found there were multiple sets of false ceilings in the structures. Before they could get to the seat of the fire, firefighters inside the structure began to experience a 'fall down.' They were ordered to stop the inside attack and the battle became a defensive fight to protect exposures of adjoining buildings. The fire was stopped before it reached the apartment, but the residence did experience smoke and water damage. Just six minutes into the fire, Gridley sent the request to the base for additional manpower.
The chief said the cause of the blaze will never be known for sure, but he expects it was probably an electrical problem. The seat of the blaze was somewhere between the second false ceiling and the roof, he said.
Damage to the structure was severe. "It is not salvageable. The walls are threatening to cave in and it presents a real danger right now. The old rocks are loose and could fall at any time.
"We have put the tape and the barricades up to keep people away and we hope they will pay attention and not try to get closer."
Gridley estimated the damage at "probably about $200,000. But we can be thankful there was no one hurt and all of our firefighters were able too get back to their families."