MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – As Terry Sudol stood across the street from the historic Main Street building destroyed by fire the day before, her thoughts turned to those who had worked in the music store and hair salon there.
“I had my hair cut there Thursday night,” said Sudol. “I’m thinking, ‘Where are these people going to have to set up?”‘
Sudol, like dozens of other Montpelier residents, stopped by Sunday to see what remained of the building that caught fire Saturday afternoon.
Those who normally picked up their Sunday morning coffee and newspaper at the adjacent Country Store had to go elsewhere. Others stood and watched investigators working and people pulling out what merchandise could be saved.
Investigators worked throughout the day to determine what caused the fire, which firefighters fought until shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday when they got it under control, Lt. Michael Quaranta said. Several hours earlier, firefighters had decided to raze part of the brick building, which is believed to have been built in the late 1870s, in an effort to attack the fire more directly. The fire was first seen around 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the rear of the building by an employee at Play It Again Sam.
Authorities on Sunday morning were evaluating the remaining two stories of the building to determine if the rest needed to come down as well.
“Right now we have insurance investigators, we have state police investigators, and we’re trying to decide if the building is structurally sound,” Quaranta said.
The building housed a first-floor music store called Play It Again Sam along with the Heads Up hair salon on the second and third floors. Neighboring buildings also suffered significant damage from the fire.
“Brooks (Pharmacy) had busted windows from when the cornices came down when we started the excavation,” Quaranta said. “The Country Store had a substantial amount of water damage.”
Several firefighters suffered minor injuries. More than two dozen firefighters from Montpelier, Barre, East Montpelier, Berlin, Middlesex and Barre City worked on the scene.
Saturday’s fire was the second major fire to hit the downtown in five years. A fire destroyed a four-story Federal brick building on the corner of State and Main streets in the winter of 1998, which was later rebuilt. Authorities believed that fire was started by a cigarette.
Montpelier residents on Sunday lamented the loss of the historic building downtown, which had once housed a movie theater.
Mary Hooper of the Montpelier Downtown Community Association, who was on hand to help Sunday, called the fire losses devastating. Still, she pointed to the dozens of people who had helped out the affected businesses.
“What is wonderful is that the entire community has turned out,” she said. “That’s really what living in Montpelier is about — neighbors helping neighbors.”
Most expressed hope that the heavily damaged building would eventually be reconstructed so as to maintain the aesthetic look of the downtown.
“The historic loss of a part of the fabric is a great loss,” said Barney Bloom, who said the destroyed building looked like a missing tooth. “And if the loss is replaced with a parking lot, that compounds the loss.”
While many residents were saddened by the loss of the historic building, they also said the community was fortunate that the firefighters were able to keep the blaze from spreading further down Main Street.
“It’s really amazing it didn’t go the whole length,” said Cosette Allen.
AP-ES-05-25-03 1237EDT
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