Western Courier

Issue date: 3/5/10 Section: News

Ed Komenda/editor in chief. Fire ravaged the location of Chelsea's Hallmark, at 121 on the South Side of the Macomb Square, at roughly 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 3. The building is beyond repair.

An enormous fire broke out Wednesday evening in the Chelsea's Hallmark store at 121 South Side Square in downtown Macomb. Officials said the blaze destroyed the building.

"The Chelsea Building is going to be a total loss," said Macomb Fire Chief Andy Taylor.

Firefighters were called to the scene at about 7:15 p.m. after receiving a report of an alarm at the adjacent Citizens National Bank. An employee responded to an alarm apparently triggered by the blaze and found smoke pouring into the bank's basement.

The first engine company to arrive at the scene could see moderate amounts of smoke coming from the building before entering to find the source of the fire, according to Taylor.

"They started an interior search of the structure to find the seed of the fire," Taylor said. "Conditions started to deteriorate very quickly."

Unable to find the source of the blaze due to a rapid increase of smoke and heat, Taylor said fire personnel were forced to change their objective.

"We quickly ventilated the roof of the Chelsea," he said. "That was kind of helping us contain the fire, keeping the heat and smoke going up to the top of the building instead of spreading out to the adjacent buildings. That was a good thing for us. It stayed low, so we got to the top first."

Three ladder trucks were called to the scene when flames from the building's collapsed roof began to reach great heights.

Using large hoses, firefighters doused the blaze from above to deter the fire from reaching neighboring buildings.

"We've contained the fire to the area," Taylor said at a 10:30 p.m. press conference. "You can never say with 100 percent certainty, but at this time, we're winning the fight.

"It's not over for a long shot," he added. "We'll probably be here all night."

There were more than 50 fire personnel at the scene from several different departments including: Macomb, Good Hope, Colchester, Emmet-Chalmers, Monmouth and Canton.

Neighboring buildings adjacent to Chelsea Hallmark, including Citizens Bank and Terrill Title Company, had moderate smoke and water damage.

There were no reported injuries, and the downtown area was closed to traffic for most of the night.

Marla Vizdal, Former Commissioner on Macomb Historical Preservation Commission and Macomb resident, said the fire "is devastating to the community."

"It's something that we're fighting to save," Vizdal said, adding that one of the main objectives of the Preservation Commission is to preserve the Square. "Now this is the second fire we've had on the Square. It's eating away at something that we're really trying to preserve."

STC Apartments Landlord Scott Collins said his main hopes were that the Chelsea fire wouldn't spread to other parts of the Square.

"I just hope they get it contained, so it doesn't happen like the last fire on the Square," Collins said, alluding to a fire that destroyed a downtown Macomb restaurant and apartment in August 2000.

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