Apartments, Four Stores Lost in Haines Fire
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- Created on Tuesday, 08 October 2024 15:33
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From the Chilkat Valley News
Investigation continued today into the fire that swept through a downtown commercial and apartment building in Haines Saturday night, leaving the structure a total loss.
No injuries were reported from the fire, which destroyed the shops of four businesses on the ground floor and four it to the clerk in the store downstairs, and the clerk called 911.
Firefighters spray water on a massive blaze in Haines on Saturday night. (Rashah McChesney/Chilkat Valley News)
HAINES FIRE AFTERMATH – Haines volunteer firefighters respond to a fire that consumed several businesses on Saturday. See story on Page 1. (Rashah McChesney/Chilkat Valley News)
Witnesses said that at first it appeared that the Haines Volunteer Fire Department would be able to contain the fire, but as dozens of people watched from Front Street and the small boat harbor parking lot, “the fire grew massive and the building started to collapse in on itself,” the Haines newspaper, the Chilkat Valley News reported in a special edition the newspaper published Sunday.
The building was owned by Haines resident Mike Ward, and was occupied by four businesses – Haines Quick Shop, Outfitter Sporting Goods, Outfitter Liquor, and Mike’s Bikes and Boards – as well as the apartments.
The occupants of the apartment were housed in the local hotel after the fire, and a Go Fund Me campaign sponsored by the Haines Ministerial Association has been started, Chilkat Valley News editor Rashah McChensey said today.
McChesney said the fire appears to have been started by a cooking fire in one of the apartments, but it will be some time before the fire marshal’s official report is released.
Fire Chief Michael Fullerton said investigators would be digging into what happened to spark the fire.
“We’ll be investigating this fire until we’re satisfied that this is a normal fire, until we’re certain of that,” he said.
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