Published: March 30, 2009 03:47 pm      

Fire destroys portion of Centralia

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

CENTRALIA — The Centralia community lost a block of its downtown area to fire Monday morning, a situation Mt. Vernon and its firefighters have encountered as well.

“This is one of the things that scares every community,” Mt. Vernon Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Sargent said. “When you have a downtown district like that, a fire gets started in a building, and the potential to lose an entire block is a big possibility if they don’t have building and fire codes in place to help aid in stopping a fire once it gets started, such as sprinkler systems and fire walls.”

A firewall may have spared Mama Antonio’s Restaurant, according to information from the Centralia City Fire Department. The restaurant building sustained smoke damage and water damage, and “very little fire damage on the second floor.”

Buildings which have been lost include 306 Main St., 308 Main St., 310 Main St., 312 Main St., and 314 Main St., according to the fire department, with firefighters stating although the front of the buildings are standing, the interiors are a loss and the roofs have been destroyed.

Mt. Vernon Fire Department was among those departments called on by Centralia City Fire Department to help with mutual aid. Sargent said the city received a call from Centralia shortly after 9 a.m. Monday asking for firefighters and a truck.

“We sent four men and our downtown station truck to Centralia,” Sargent said. “We called in overtime guys to fill in their spots while they were gone in Centralia.”

The Mt. Vernon firefighters were used at the Centralia Fire Department to cover calls while the Centralia firefighters fought the downtown fire.

The fire was in the 300 block of Main Street, with Foster Saloon, a martial arts school, Impact Baseball Training and an optometrist office receiving major damage.

“You could see the smoke from Mt. Vernon,” Sargent said. “You could see it from the I57 overpass.”

In addition to MVFD, Centralia City Fire Department called in mutual aid from Salem Fire Department, Centralia Fire Protection District, Hoffman Fire Department and Sandoval Fire Department.