By KATIE WILSON - The Daily Astorian
Photo By - Alex Pajunas
Astoria inferno destroys cafe, office block; cause not known
Firefighters are slowly bringing a two-fire blaze on the Astoria waterfront under control as of 6 a.m. Friday.
The first fire broke out in Gunderson's Cannery Cafe, No.1 building, Sixth Street, around 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
A second fire began not long after in the neighboring No.10 building which houses a variety of offices and businesses including Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare and the Lazy Spoon Cafe.
At first, fire personnel believed the fire at the cafe had spread into the No.10 building. They now have reason to believe that there were two separate fires, said Tara Constantine, public information officer with the Astoria Fire Department.
But the cause of both fires is still unknown.
The fires gutted the two buildings, eating away the roof and interior of the cafe and blasting the river side of the No.10 building. No one was injured.
A massive fire was still blazing on the Astoria waterfront at 4 a.m. Friday.
The fire, which appears to have started at Gunderson's Cannery Cafe, No.1 Sixth Street, and then spread to the adjacent No.10 building, is far from being under control, said Astoria Fire Chief Lenard Hansen.
Astoria inferno destroys cafe, office block; cause not known
Firefighters are slowly bringing a two-fire blaze on the Astoria waterfront under control as of 6 a.m. Friday.
The first fire broke out in Gunderson's Cannery Cafe, No.1 building, Sixth Street, around 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
A second fire began not long after in the neighboring No.10 building which houses a variety of offices and businesses including Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare and the Lazy Spoon Cafe.
At first, fire personnel believed the fire at the cafe had spread into the No.10 building. They now have reason to believe that there were two separate fires, said Tara Constantine, public information officer with the Astoria Fire Department.
But the cause of both fires is still unknown.
The fires gutted the two buildings, eating away the roof and interior of the cafe and blasting the river side of the No.10 building. No one was injured.
A massive fire was still blazing on the Astoria waterfront at 4 a.m. Friday.
The fire, which appears to have started at Gunderson's Cannery Cafe, No.1 Sixth Street, and then spread to the adjacent No.10 building, is far from being under control, said Astoria Fire Chief Lenard Hansen.
7 comments:
What a terrible shame. Those two buildings had been significantly rehabilitated by their owners and become assets rather than liablities to the city. Hopefully, the owners and their insurance companies will be able to rebuild something other than condos. Unfortunately, we will never know what happened. The Astoria Fire Department is simply too inept to ever determine this is anything but a "suspicious fire".
"Anonymous said...
What a terrible shame. Those two buildings had been significantly rehabilitated by their owners and become assets rather than liablities to the city. Hopefully, the owners and their insurance companies will be able to rebuild something other than condos. Unfortunately, we will never know what happened. The Astoria Fire Department is simply too inept to ever determine this is anything but a "suspicious fire"."
* Seven local fire departments and an estimated 50 firefighters responded to the blaze.
* The U.S. Coast Guard and the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol helped monitor the fire from the water.
* A representative from the Oregon State Police Arson division and Tad Pederson, deputy state fire marshal, happened to be coming through the area when the fire hit Thursday night, Chief Hansen said. They will be a part of the investigation along with the Clatsop County Fire Investigation Team.
So why "Anonym" would want to single-out The Astoria Fire Department as "too inept" to figure out the cause of the fire.
By now you have probably read that there were indeed two separate fires and the those two specific properties were scheduled for a Sheriff's Sale of Real Estate on December 30, 2010.
Maybe because this is just another indicator that the command structure of AFD needs to be replaced? Hansen has been a miserable failure at making sure the volunteers are adequately trained-he just takes what they're paying and it's evident by the department's poor performance that he either isn't interested in doing his job correctly or, more likely, he is incapabable. Fire him now. For the good of the department and the good of the public.
The sad irony in all this in my view, no matter how we try to deflect the blame in hindsight, is the possibility that this travesty could quite possibly be inflicted on us by one of our own.
Shame on you,McGee, for even insinuating Mr. Trabucco would pull something like that. It says more about you than it does about him, though.
Anonymous said...
Shame on you,McGee, for even insinuating Mr. Trabucco would pull something like that. It says more about you than it does about him, though.
The only person mentioning Chester is you "Anonym" and the exact cause and determination of the fire has yet to be determined. You are from here are you not? Do you keep up with the news around these parts?
So, how is the "investigation" going so far? Fire Chief Hansen is telling the City Council the fire is accidental and Chester is telling the paper it was caused by a new electrical connection he had installed. Now, please tell me the chances that an electrical connections installed by a professionsl electrical company like Wadsworth and inspected by the public electrical inspector based on a permit would catch fire. The answer is a million to one. But, it is an easy out for an ineffective organization and it is politically correct. And, having the insurance companies involved will ensure an accurate determination? Not at all. The insurance companies are not interested in cause, they are interested in liability. On top of that, they use the reports of the public agencies and do not do a similar investigation. Anyone who believes the insurance companies do arson investigations is watching too much television.
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