Though the Jessen Building is still closed to residents, life goes on after the fire

Nov. 15--News Dickinson,North Dakota 58602 http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/sites/default/files/styles/square_300/public/field/image/111515.N.DP_.FIREUPDATE.JPG?itok=bqTNsDU4

Andrew Haffner

The Dickinson Press

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Though the Jessen Building is still closed to residents, life goes on after the fire

Dickinson North Dakota 1815 1st Street West 58602

Almost two months have passed since a fire ripped through the residential second floor of the Jessen Building in downtown Dickinson and considerable work still remains to restore the historic structure to livable status.

Building co-owner and apartment manager Adam Metzker said the building's commercial tenants are all back in place, but the former residents have been let out of their leases and have moved on.

"No one's waiting to come back," Metzker said.

The Sept. 23 fire displaced the occupants of all four apartments in the building located at the corner of First Avenue West and Villard Street.

The blaze was soon after determined by the Dickinson Fire Department to have originated from a plastic cigarette disposal container on a second-floor deck on the north side of the building.

That same building was the site of the May 2014 Bogey's Diner fire.

Dickinson firefighters Kyle MacIntosh and Stephen Lawson, as well as city Fire Marshal Deb Barros, participated in a rescue of resident Heather Flaugher and her young daughter during the September fire, assisting the two out of their apartment window and down a ladder to safety.

Flaugher could not be reached for comment.

Cecilia and John Nyman were living in a Jessen Building apartment at the time of the fire and were counted among the displaced.

The couple, along with their two children, were faced with the prospect of dealing with the fire's aftermath both in their home and in their workplace at Badlands Comics and Games, of which John is part-owner.

Cecilia remembers that their first course of action the night of the fire was just "trying to find a bed to lay our heads in."

She said help from the American Red Cross, which paid for hotel rooms for the displaced for a few days after the fire, made things "a little less worrisome."

Despite that, both she and John described the emotional state of the nearly two weeks the family spent living in Dickinson's Astoria Hotel as very stressful.

"You're so used to being in the comfort of your home," Cecilia said. "Even if you move, you know where you're going. The amount of anxiety was crazy."

Some of their neighbors from the other apartments were also housed at the Astoria, but the Nymans seldom interacted with them and none could not be reached to comment on the story.

The family was unable to salvage many of their damaged belongings, Cecilia said, and had to be somewhat strategic when choosing what to have cleaned and restored.

In the end, they went with their clothes and a few personal items.

While the structural damage to the lower part of the building was relatively minimal, Metzker described the damage sustained by the upper floor as "very extensive" due to the combined destructive effect of fire, smoke and water.

"We had to (demolish) everything," Metzker said. "The main thing is to mitigate the smoke, so there won't be any issues with that and to make sure there's no smell."

He estimated the overhaul would be completed by April, with workers restoring the building throughout the winter to prepare for new tenants.

Permanent removal of the second-floor deck on which the fire started is one of the changes that will be made.

"We don't want to risk it again," Metzker said.

The process of determining the extent of insurance coverage for the building itself is not yet complete.

While the Nymans assessed the effects of the fire on the home front, they were also required to compile the damages to their store for insurance purposes, a long-term activity Cecilia described as "very labor-intensive" that the couple hopes to finish sometime this week.

Their insurance provider covered the remainder of the Nyman's hotel stay, after the Red Cross assistance ended while the family still sought out a new home.

All things considered in their upheaval, Cecilia said things came out alright in the end.

"I guess it's lucky that the rent is going down," she said with a smile. "We found a place where we pay less, we have more space and we have a garage, which you don't get when you live downtown."

She said the family was also lucky to have many items in storage at the time of the fire, as well as adequate renter's insurance to replace some necessary items, such as their beds.

John said finding the family's new place was mostly just a matter of getting the time to look and apply for an apartment lease while dealing with the myriad of other issues caused by the fire.

"It was a challenge," he admitted, "but nothing we didn't overcome, obviously."

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