The devastating fire that tore through a block of downtown Arcata on Friday afternoon destroyed at least seven businesses, including “associated apartments,” and damaged five more, with an early estimate of $18 million in losses, according to the Arcata Fire District.
The cause remains under investigation.
Among the stores destroyed, according to social media posts and reports on the ground, were Dandar’s Boardgames and Books, Northtown Books, the Seely & Titlow building housing Hensels Ace Hardware’s kitchen store, candy shop and paint store, Global Village Gallery and Vanilla Sky Co.
By this morning, several fundraisers were underway on platforms including GoFundMe and Give A Hand for several of the local businesses and residents of the buildings’ upstairs apartments who are now left without a place to live or any belongings.
The American Red Cross is helping those displaced, according to officials.
In a glimmer of good news, there were no reported injuries to civilians or firefighters due to the blaze first spotted at 2:30 p.m. by one of Arcata Fire’s crews returning from a call, with the district reporting that the engine captain “immediately requested a full commercial fire response and proceeded toward the source of the smoke.”
“The engine company arrived moments later in the 800 block of 10th Street and encountered a well-established, rapidly spreading fire in a large, two-story commercial structure with apartments above and businesses below,” a release states. “The fire had already spread laterally to multiple occupancies through concealed spaces within the interconnected structures.
“As additional Arcata Fire District resources arrived, an offensive fire suppression strategy was implemented. Fire personnel prioritized the immediate evacuation of apartment residents while simultaneously attempting to gain control of the fire,” the release continues. “Strong winds significantly accelerated fire growth through the older buildings.”
A mutual aid call was sent out and agencies across the county responded to assist, including Humboldt Bay Fire, Samoa Fire, Kneeland Fire, Westhaven Fire, Loleta Fire, Ferndale Fire, Fortuna Fire, Fieldbrook Fire, Blue Lake Fire, Rio Dell Fire, Arcata-Mad River Ambulance, CAL FIRE Trinidad and CAL FIRE Weott.
“Every ladder truck in Humboldt County was deployed to this incident,” the Arcata Fire District release states. “Approximately 80 fire suppression personnel and an additional 20 support personnel were involved. Without the mutual aid support of our partner agencies, this fire could have spread across several city blocks and resulted in significant injuries and loss of life.”
Putting out the fire was an all hands-on-deck effort, with the release stating that as the additional resources arrived on scene, “command determined they would be deployed to prevent fire spread to surrounding city blocks, including the historic Minor Theater, which was experiencing direct heat, ember exposure, and smoke impingement due to strong southerly winds.”
In addition, the release states, “crews were assigned to rooftops in downwind areas to extinguish embers and suppress spot fires as they ignited.”
“As interior firefighting operations continued, conditions deteriorated and it became evident that the fire posed a significant life safety threat to personnel,” Arcata Fire said. “Due to structural instability and collapse occurring in multiple locations, the decision was made to evacuate firefighters from the involved structures. Fire apparatus were repositioned and defensive operations continued for several hours.”
Amid the suppression efforts, PG&E was called in after a “natural gas manifold serving the structures was damaged, and firefighters were unable to shut down the gas supply” and the utility’s crews “were required to excavate at the intersection of 10th and H Streets and crimp the gas line to safely shut off service to the affected structures.”
The city of Arcata also increased water flow to nearby hydrants as the effort put a “heavy demand on the water system.”
“As sections of the buildings collapsed into the street, two excavators were requested to open portions of the structures, allowing water streams to reach areas of free-burning fire,” the release states.
In addition to the responding units, the Arcata Fire District also noted the assistance of the city’s Engineering, Building, Public Works and Water departments, the Arcata Police Department, the Arcata Fire District Volunteer Logistics Unit, the Cal Poly Humboldt University Police Department, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Highway Patrol, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, Humboldt County Environmental Health Department and the Humboldt County Chapter of the American Red Cross “for providing traffic control, logistical support, and technical expertise throughout the incident.”
“Additionally, the Arcata Fire District thanks the citizens of Arcata for their assistance and continued support of the impacted business owners and residents,” the release states. “We recognize the profound impact this incident has had on lives and livelihoods, and we encourage the community to continue showing compassion and kindness toward those affected.”
The Arcata Fire District release states it is “working in coordination with the Humboldt County Fire-Arson Investigation Team” and will release more information as it “becomes available.” Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the district at (707) 825-2000.