Fire that gutted longtime Prosser business is blow to heart of Benton County

Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, WA)

May 10—PROSSER, Wa. — A fire that ripped through the heart of Prosser last weekend left city workers and business owners on Monday sifting through rubble and water damage to see what could be salvaged.

All that remains of Underwood's Prosser Lockers — where the three-alarm blaze started just before 1 p.m. Saturday — is the front brick wall and the business sign.

Next door, Prosser's City Hall and Police Department both have been shuttered, even to employees, because of extensive fire, smoke and water damage.

Bankers boxes of rescued files and other items are being stacked up on the Seventh Street sidewalk as workers clear the buildings.

City business is being conducted temporarily out of the Prosser Senior/Community Center on Dudley Avenue. People can still get through to City Hall by calling 509-786-2332.

Steve Zetz, community development director, told the Tri-City Herald that it will be months before they can get City Hall fixed up and ready for employees again. That's why the city administrator was out Monday trying to find a temporary home for the municipal offices.

The fire started in the attic space between the ceiling and roof of the butcher shop and meat locker, which made it difficult for firefighters to access and why it easily spread to the connected buildings along Bennett Avenue, according to Capt. Scott Friend with West Benton Fire Rescue.

It also caused damage to Cook's Ace Hardware on the west side of Underwood's.

No one was hurt in the fire. The buildings were evacuated by Prosser police and Benton County sheriff's deputies.

The blaze was under control at 9:52 p.m. Saturday. Crews remained on scene through Sunday but there were no additional flareups, said Friend.

Authorities don't yet know what caused the fire.

The Prosser fire department requested the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to do the investigation, but it reportedly has been handed off to the insurance company.

A total 55 firefighters representing 11 agencies from the Tri-Cities and Lower Yakima Valley responded Saturday to battle the flames.

Electrical service to the neighborhood was disconnected for hours, and traffic was rerouted onto other downtown streets to keep the public away from the firefighting efforts. That block of Bennett Avenue and Seventh around the corner remained closed Monday.

Prosser is the county seat of Benton County. A mostly agricultural town, it has about 6,000 residents.

Shon Small, a Benton County commissioner who is from Prosser, said Monday that the aftermath of the fire is "absolutely tragic."

"No. 1, there is all the history right there as far as Prosser itself and how long those structures have been around," he told the Herald. "And No. 2, just to the family owned businesses, it's going to upset a few areas for a while."

"But nevertheless, just like a lot of us know as far as Benton County, Prosser — they're very tough individuals and everything will continue to go status quo," he added.

Small said the county will try to "open a few doors" and do everything it can to assist Prosser with its recovery.

"I know that the police department will still be able to provide services because, realistically, their offices are their patrol cars," said Small, a former sheriff's deputy. "But when it comes down to Underwood's (Prosser) Lockers, that's a big deal. They've been around forever."

Small said shops like Underwood's and Cook's Ace Hardware may take a hit for a while because they rely on face-to-face interaction, and "the reason they are in business is because they are outstanding with the community and with customer service."

"I just hope that between the insurance companies and whatever else we might be able to assist with," he added, "that the businesses are able to recover and get back strong and strive even more than they do now."

___

Visit Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.) at www.tri-cityherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.