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And now for the cleanup
Merchants assess post-fire damage to downtown

A view from Route 66 shows the vacant lot that used to house the landmark building that succumbed to fire on June 20. The north wall facing Railroad Avenue will have to come down as well, but crews have been instructed to save as much of the facade as possible for future reconstruction.

A view from Route 66 shows the vacant lot that used to house the landmark building that succumbed to fire on June 20. The north wall facing Railroad Avenue will have to come down as well, but crews have been instructed to save as much of the facade as possible for future reconstruction.

Downtown merchants in the 100 block of West Route 66 and West Railroad Avenue are still in the process of cleaning up after a June 20 fire destroyed a historic building between the Canyon Club and the Red Garter Bed and Bakery.

"It was all black -- you couldn't even see the buildings," said Williams Wear owner Patti Williams of the scene the day of the fire.

Aside from the Canyon Club with its burned out back room ceiling and wet basement, and the Red Garter with smoke and extensive water damage, the next business on the list to suffer the most harm appears to be the Turquoise Tepee.

"It is just a mess," said owner Sandy Jensen.

Though the fire didn't reach her building, copious amounts of smoke, soot, dust, and ash did through open windows and eastward winds. The exterior was not damaged.

From Jensen's account of the story, a family member had woken Jensen, her husband Roger, and others the morning of the fire to alert them of the first fire. Jensen and family members rushed to remove as much of their merchandise from the building as possible.

"I've got a big family and we enlisted them all," Jensen said.

After the fire was doused the first time, Jensen and family members put the merchandise back in their store and went to Goldie's Route 66 Diner to eat. At about 4 p.m., according to Jensen, family friend Esther Sandoval came into the diner and warned the Jensens about the fire flaring up a second time.

Once again, the storeowners quickly removed merchandise, but had to battle a thick sea of smoke to do so. As Jensen describes, the store's open windows and skylight created a vacuum through which smoke and debris funneled.

"It was like a miniature tornado in the store," Jensen described, adding that she was grateful for assistance from Sandoval and other community members during the incident.

For the Turquoise Tepee, the aftermath so far has included cleaning not only the store, but also individual pieces of merchandise for the last week. Jensen says the store's back room will have to be repainted as well. To add insult to injury, the fire occurred right after the Jensens had spent seven weeks doing a major cleanup to the interior of the shop.

Though a serious undertaking, the store reopened for business on July 1.

Other businesses, such as Williams Wear immediately east of the Turquoise Tepee, Gem Dandy's rock shop, Eagle's Nest, High Country Market/Bell Gas, and New Attitude (on the Railroad Avenue side) had to be evacuated, but suffered no notable damage.

As far as the former landmark downtown building goes, City Manager Dennis Wells confirmed that no asbestos was found and the structural engineer hired by the city has deemed the north wall unsalvageable. The only way the wall could be saved is if the city bore the cost of shoring up the wall with a latticework of crossbeams.

That would be too much of an expenditure, so now city officials have instructed Dale Perkins' demolition crews to save as much of the historic pressed tin faade as possible for future use.

City staff is still meeting with attorneys to seek reimbursement from Frances Reuter, if she still legally owns the former building. Wells, however, mentioned that the city is also looking into legally acquiring the property as reimbursement. After factoring in traffic control, the time and efforts of the Williams Volunteer Fire Department, water used, and demolition, the cost to the city and its residents could reach as high as $150,000-$200,000, Wells said.


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