Other buildings located above
Fire crews were still on scene Monday afternoon -- and are expected to remain there overnight Tuesday.
A report of smoke in the area came in about
Fire crews discovered an active commercial fire, he said., and other fire crews were called in to help. At full strength, about 50 firefighters fought the blaze, but defensively, he said, because the roof on the south side of the building collapsed and buried the main floor in debris.
On Monday, no one was thought to have been hurt in the fire, although fire crews had yet to do a thorough check of the fire-damaged building. The fire is under investigation, LaVielle said.
"Anytime you have an empty building you worry about the possibility of fire," LaVielle said.
The owner of the brewery property south of
LaVielle said they hope to get the owners and an insurance adjuster on site to come up with a plan about next steps. A contractor is expected to remove debris,
Kmet expressed frustration about the owner of the property not doing more to control access to it, saying the property is frequently the target of vandals.
"Just basically trashing the interior," he said.
"I'm frustrated that nothing has happened here and the community is frustrated," he said. "That has to change. We have to see if we can get the owner to do something, or sell it to someone who is willing to do something."
He said the city was in contact with the owner on Monday, exchanging information about the fire. He acknowledged that the owner also is frustrated by the difficulty in controlling access to the property. Prior to the fire, a fence had been erected around the perimeter and a security guard keeps watch on the 1 million square feet of commercial space.
"There are all these opportunities to get into the place and it's very hard to control," Kmet said.
Kmet said the city is going to step up conversations about controlling access to the property, and actively engage the owners about redevelopment.
"We can't seem to get past go with the new owner," he said.
Meanwhile, the state
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