Businesses affected by Hazel Dell strip mall fire beginning to rebuild

March 16-- Mar. 16--Colleen Conrad could only sit and wait as, in the distance, smoke billowed from her business. An employee had called her to say that the building had caught fire, but she was stuck at a stoplight down the street.

"You know that light is like the longest light on the planet, right?" Conrad said.

Conrad's business, Dog Gone Clean pet grooming, was one of several damaged by a three-alarm fire on Jan. 19. Firefighters battled the blaze for 40 minutes. Three businesses sustained fire damage, but smoke that spread through the common attic at the Holly Park Shopping Center on Northeast Highway 99 has left surrounding tenants closed for the foreseeable future.

The Clark County Fire Marshal's Office has been working with several insurance company investigators representing the building owners for several weeks to determine the cause of the fire. The likely cause has been narrowed to a light and fan combination located in the ceiling of the restroom in the Chic Boutique women's consignment shop, County Fire Marshal Jon Dunaway wrote in an email.

No matter the cause, the effect will be lasting on nearly a dozen businesses that called the strip mall home. Storefronts that didn't have fire damage may reopen in the next six to eight months. The others will likely be closed for the next 1 1/2 years, according to multiple business owners.

Dog Gone Clean was not damaged by the flames, so it is expected to reopen later this year, Conrad said. But for Conrad, who has owned the business for 13 years, the wait already has been expensive and exhausting.

"It's been absolutely heartbreaking," Conrad said. "After building for so many years to get it to a successful point, we feel like we're starting over."

Conrad's business sustained water and soot damage during the fire. She had to document and remove everything inside for insurance purposes.

As the building is repaired, Conrad has prepared an invitation-only mobile grooming station nearby. She also is allowing customers to use her Portland location for free.

She usually offers full-serve and self-serve pet grooming options but will be limited to full-serve for the next few months. Conrad was forced to lay off two of her five employees and estimates she's spent $40,000 on the temporary setup, trailer, build out, cleanup and lost supplies.

"There's no amount of money that can sum up the hardship to our business," Conrad said.

Because obtaining permits for dog-related businesses in Clark County is complicated, the business has no other choice but to wait it out and stay in the same location, Conrad said.

Relocating

For Denim & Frills thrift shop, which was near the source of the fire, relocation was the only feasible option, owner Julie Lewis said. She recently signed a lease at the Hazel Dell Marketplace shopping center near Northeast 78th Street and is aiming to reopen there in May, Lewis said.

The fire destroyed everything in the store, even Lewis' purse. She estimates it has cost her $220,000, only a fraction of which has been covered by insurance.

"It's quite a cost," Lewis said. "We've just been doing everything we can do to rebuild."

But the store has also seen an outpouring of generosity, Lewis said. Around 300 people have donated clothes, and $7,000 cash has been donated. Four different fundraisers at other organizations have been scheduled.

"We have so much support," Lewis said.

Connie Skinner, who has owned Mind Your Manners dog training and day care for roughly 20 years, said she has also felt support from customers and community. During repairs, Camp Good Puppy in east Vancouver has allowed her to hold training classes. But the day care side of the business will be closed for the next few months.

"They've been really supportive," Skinner said. "We really do miss the dogs, you know, so that's been really hard for us. Thankfully most of my clients are pretty happy with us, so they're just hanging on."

Skinner's insurance has covered $20,000 of her loss, but the expenses have been well above that. In addition to water and soot damage, rubber matting on the floor needed to be removed since it might have been exposed to asbestos, which cost $10,000 alone.

"I don't know how you put a dollar figure on it. It's unbelievable how little you know you have until you have to write it down," Skinner said. "It's cost me everything. That's my life."

Like Conrad, Skinner is expecting to reopen in the fall. But "I hope it's a lot less than that," she said.

After two decades, it's strange for Skinner to be away from the business, she said. But like her neighboring business owners since the fiery day, she can only wait and anticipate.

"I don't have any experience doing any of this before. It's numbing," Skinner said. "Waiting is an awful thing to do, you know?"

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