Fire Destroys Historic Downtown Building
This video is no longer available.
Many of those who live and work in downtown are devastated after losing a piece of the city that can never be replaced. The former First Baptist Church building went in to flames late Friday morning. Fire investigators said hot work by roofing crews may have sparked the late morning fire. It took eight units and more than 45 firefighters about three hours to tame the blaze. Those who witnessed the fire said the scene was unbelievable. “I was coming from south Jackson and could see it from about five miles away. I knew something big was going on,” said an onlooker. Sidney Burngasser works downtown and said, “I turned around from my desk and the building was on fire, and the the dome collapsed. And everybody went went running and screaming.” Residents and downtown workers looked on helplessly as fire fighters quickly went from fighting the fire to defending the buildings around it, including the historic Greyhound Bus Station. “It’s heartbreaking when you sit there and lose those stories. You hope they stay strong. This was a beautiful building. They were making master plans to make something great with it, and now its gone,” said Director of Downtown Development Katie Pace. Winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour fueled more fires at nearby buildings. Police officers with hand-held fire extinguishers worked to protect the roof of their annex building. Just a half block away, flying embers sparked a fire at Wolfe Communications. For the owner, the fire was too much to bare. “This is like a nightmare. You know? We were working on our dream, and it seems just like a nightmare to have this kind of thing like this to happen, especially downtown,” said owner James Wolfe.
