Jonesboro fire ruins downtown building

Smoke shuts courthouse; no one hurt

Jonesboro firefighters work a structure fire Friday at 411 S. Union St in the downtown area. It’s devastating,” said Brooke Gibson, a Jonesboro physician and owner of the building. “There’s so much fire and smoke. I hope we can save something.”
Jonesboro firefighters work a structure fire Friday at 411 S. Union St in the downtown area. It’s devastating,” said Brooke Gibson, a Jonesboro physician and owner of the building. “There’s so much fire and smoke. I hope we can save something.”

JONESBORO -- Fire destroyed a downtown Jonesboro building that housed a spa and four apartments, and heavy smoke forced the closure of the Craighead County Courthouse and nearby businesses Friday.

There were no injuries, but city officials feared the damaged building at 411 S. Union St. could collapse. Downtown's Union Street and Madison Street remained blocked off Friday morning because the area was still thick with smoke, as well.

"It's devastating," said Brooke Gibson, a Jonesboro physician and owner of the building. "There's so much fire and smoke. I hope we can save something."

The red-brick building is at least 70 years old, she said, and was once the home of a cosmetology school.

The blaze began at 10:30 p.m. Thursday in one of four loft apartments on the second floor of the building, above the Eden Medical Spa and Boutique, Jonesboro Fire Chief Kevin Miller said.

"We're not sure of the cause of the fire yet," Miller said Friday morning. "It appears it began in the ceiling of one of the apartments. We don't suspect it's anything suspicious."

Fire Marshal Jason Wills said he would investigate when he could get inside.

A person who was watching one of the apartments while the resident was away smelled smoke and called police, Gibson said.

The fire quickly spread and by 11:30 p.m. Thursday, flames shot 20 to 30 feet above the building's roof.

Gibson said she could see the fire from 2 miles away as she drove toward downtown. A building next door connected by an enclosed walkway that houses a tattoo business and architect's office sustained some water and smoke damage.

About 50 firefighters battled the blaze, Miller said. Two ladder trucks sprayed 2,000 gallons of water a minute onto the building's roof and kept a heavy stream of water on a space between the two buildings to ensure that the fire would not spread.

Miller said crews rotated shifts fighting the blaze because he was concerned the firefighters would be overcome by the heat.

The fire rekindled early Friday, sending a thick, billowing column of gray smoke into the downtown area.

Officials closed the Craighead County Courthouse, which sits just to the southeast of 411 S. Union St., and the courthouse's annex. Criminal court hearings scheduled for Friday in Craighead County Circuit Court were canceled, said 2nd Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington.

Fire officials also closed a county maintenance building downtown and blocked off several businesses along Union Street and Washington Avenue because of the smoke.

Workers were allowed back into their buildings Friday afternoon, however, and city street crews cleared charred debris that had washed down Washington Avenue with the runoff from the water used to fight the fire.

A portion of the fire-stricken building's roof collapsed Friday morning, and Miller said he was concerned that the brick building could fall completely.

"We put a lot of water on the fire, and the building was damaged," Miller said. "We've seen some cracks in the structure, so we are being very cautious."

State Desk on 08/01/2015

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