Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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Fires ' 13

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Fim 3 cause alarm By Mike Johnson Residents ' calls k action prompts safety codi Fire timeline March 15: Garrett-Strong— When an electrical box exploded, the high rises were left w iihoiit power for 24 hours, the vaxes shut down and B.D. Owens Library was evacuated. The box was replaced and power restored. June 26: A G Pizza— The fire started in the grill area. Becau ' e of the extent of the losses, there were no plans to rebuild the business. Aug. 2: Rex and Ralph ' s Tire Shop— The cause was a radio shorting out and catching fire. The fire spread and caused $50,000 dainage. The shop was open for business the next day and rebuilding was ongoing. Aug. 10: China Garden— The fire started when someone poured lighter fluid all over the building and lit it. An arrest was made and investigation was ongoing. There were no plans to rebuild the restaurant. Aug. 22: Woodruff Amoid— The fire started in the Dumpster. Rebuilding began almost immediately after the fire and the construction company was not harmed because many of the building materials were already at the sites. Sept. 23: 116 N. Buchanan (apartment complex)— The cause was an accidental electrical fire. The apartment complex was rebuilt from the ground up. Sept. 28: 114 E. 3rd (apartment above Accent Printing) — An electrical fire caused by faulty wiring completely devastated the apartment and printing business as well as damaging the buildings on either side. Accent Printing relocated to another building. Crowds gathered to watch, photographers snapped pictures and firefighters fought to save property, li es and hinnes. Business and educational facilities went up in smoke. The rash of fires caused the loss of many businesses, millions of dollars in damage and homes and the formation of a fire code committee. Contrary to what many believed, a mad-cap arsonist was not to blame for the fires. Keilh Wood, Maryville Public Safely director, said the number of fires was coincidental and did not stem from negligence. The year began the night the lights went out on campus when an electrical fire in the utility tunnel west of Garrett-Strong was caused by a box, containing several high-voltage lines, exploding. Students were working in the computer lab when they noticed the lights flickenng. After reporting it to Campus Safely, they noticed smoke coming from the ceiling and sounded the fire alarm. B.D. Owens Library was evacuated, the vax was shut down and the four high nses were left without power for one day. Basically, in the halls, residence assistants look care of the problems resulting from the power outage, Christina Pallas said. They came by ihe rooms and did wake up calls so there were really no major prob- lems. Students lost two places to eat when A G Pizza and China Garden caught fire. China Garden was the only major structural fire caused by arson. Fred Pettlon. Sports Page owner, said it looked like they (arsonists) used lighter fluid and set the place on fire. The business suffered so much damage it did not reopen. 1 owned the Sports Page so I was going to add on to that, Pettlon said. When I got that opened, I added a dance floor and had DJs every once in a while. The expansion doubled the size of the building. As, the sun rose in the morning sky, another fire consumed a business. The fire at Woodruff Arnold Home Rent-It Center, a 50-year-old, family-owned business, began in a Dumpster and quickly spread to the area around it. Arson was ruled out as the cause by investigators. .• thick veil of smoke encompassed the area around the business as 55 firefighters worked on extinguishing the flames. Wal-Mart, located next 10 the lumber yard, stayed closed until the afternoon, but the building itself was not damaged. The next month, another fire took .Accent Printing and damaged the surrounding businesses, including D S Western Wear and Paradise Donuts. The businesses and apartments suffered extensive damage from smoke and water. Tasha Godreau ' s apartment was located above Paradise Donuts. While the smoke and fire caused some problems, the process of fighting continued to page 14 12 Student Life

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Fim , cause alaf m coiuinued from i cii;c 12 tire caused ihc niosi damage. The aparlmenl was destroyed by ihe firemen going in there and enling exerything. Godreau said. They lore the ceihng down in the h ing room. They got water everywhere when they brought the ho.se in there and started spraying. They broke every window and sprayed water in the closets. As a result, many ot ' Godreau ' s personal belongings were destroyed, resulting in hundreds of dollars of damage. My stereo was demolished. Godreau said. Basically anything electronic, like the TV, and my clothes were ruined. It looked like a fire war zone. The fire war had started that week on Saturday when a Buchanan Street apartment building owned by Ron Koehler burned down. The cause was faulty wiring. Nate Potts and his roommates found themselves without a place to live after the building was destroyed. We w enl to the Best Western and paid for our own room the first night, Potts said. The next night Koehler paid for it and then we stayed with friends until we found a place. While his roommates were settled in a new place within a week. Potts called the considerable damage caused by the fire a learning experience. A person needed renter ' s insurance. Potts said. We learned our lesson by not having any. It was only S30 for the entire y ar. . lot of people didn ' t get it or even know- about it. but it was good to have in case this ever hap- pened. In response to growing concern over the multiple fires. Maryville ' s City Council approved the formation of a fire code advisory board. The committee, comprised of 15 community members most affected by a fire code, was appointed to examine the code and its competence in meeting the city ' s needs. We were going to go over the old fire code. Joe Hayes, gasoline station owner, said. There hadn ' t been any updating in 20 to 25 years so I imagined a few things needed to be looked at. Jo Johnson carries boxes and cloihmg from her waterlogged aparlmenl Destroying property and leaving some without homes. above Accent Printing. Faulty wiring was the cause ofthe fire which .started fires devastated apartments, houses and businesses. The in Johnson ' s apartment. burning memories lingered long after the smoke cleared. J 14 Student Life