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MASSILLON, OH — .The 109-year-old building that caught fire Sunday is extremely hazardous and will likely pose a major challenge for demolition crews.
Structural engineers, insurance agents and reconstruction crews gathered in front of the charred shell of what was, just hours earlier, the home of Bonnie and Michael Fall and their business, Bonnie’s Engravers Gallery.
The massive fire that started in the basement of the three-story building around 5 p.m. Sunday was out. Firefighters left the scene to catch up on sleep.
But what remained by midday was a building that’s flesh was ripped, torn and burned and that’s structural integrity was compromised.
And while Engravers Gallery, 20 Lincoln Way E., was known to be a complete loss to anyone standing along the police tapeline, what was unknown was the condition of the two brick buildings that bookend it.
Structural engineer James R. Shives of the Akron-based GPD Group has instructed the city to prohibit either Wings, Wheels and Waves to the west or CJ Duncan Jewelers to the east to be occupied until both buildings’ walls are braced. They are bowing.
“Each building is independent and yet dependent on each other,” Massillon Fire Chief Thomas Burgasser said. “And now not only do you have the mortar and the bricks that have been compromised, you don’t have the rafter structure, you don’t have the support structure, the beem structure, which braced the walls outward.”
Burgasser said many of the challenges ahead in saving the remainder of the city block are outside his expertise.
“It’s going to be a hefty task to brace those walls to keep them from bowing while at the same time bringing down the structure,” he said.
The Massillon Fire Department and six state fire marshals were unable to determine how the fire started and have ruled the cause unknown.
However, it has been determined that the blaze began in the building’s basement near the front of the building, an area “with a large quantity of stored materials,” according to a department press release.
Massillon and fire crews from several neighboring communities targeted the fire from all angles. It mostly produced heavy smoke throughout Sunday evening until flames could be seen shooting from the building’s roof.
Firefighters sprayed buildings on the entire city block, from Erie Street North to First Street Northeast. They busted out windows on some businesses to allow the blaze to breathe, which sent a cloud of smoke over the city.
“The efforts of those guys to contain the fire to those three buildings was fantastic,” Burgasser said. “It is only through their efforts … that additional buildings were saved. These types of fires usually result in the loss of entire city blocks.”
“Half of it’s gone,” Shives, the engineer, said of Engravers Gallery. “The facade is still fairly stable. They’ll be able to open the street up, but just keep people away from the glass. There’s a brick wall in the back, but who knows what’s supporting it?
“It’s the prettiest building on the block,” he said. “It’s kind of a shame. They could (save it) but it’s up to the insurance company.”
The Engravers Gallery building was erected in 1900, according to property records on the Stark County Auditor’s Web site. It was once known as the Conrad building for its owner, Silas Conrad, whose hotel at the corner of Lincoln Way East and First Street was also destroyed by fire more than 25 years ago.
The top floors of Engravers Gallery and the structures that house Wings, Wheels and Waves and the former Cornell Agency were open at one time, but the Falls closed off their portion with a fire wall.
The blaze caused a “myriad of situations” inside.
A wall toward the rear of the building is standing with little or no support and a stairwell is “virtually hanging,” Burgasser said.
“The building is extremely hazardous at this time and as long as that building is hazardous it makes the other two hazardous as well,” he said.
The city will work with the businesses’ owners to retrieve any possessions until other determinations can be made. Design Renovations and Reconstruction began boarding the busted-out windows of Engravers Gallery and CJ Duncan Jewelers, as well as creating a wall to restrict access.
“They are securing the building from access and entry,” Burgasser said. “They are not going to secure the building, as in make it safe. There is nothing to do there.”
He said it was not “prudent” to allow any access to the sidewalk near the businesses, however, that stretch of Lincoln Way was reopened to traffic by Monday evening.
“We went a long way to determining that we are going to be opening the street,” Burgasser said. “That is by virtue of the fact that we have good information that the facade is not a problem, we’re not going to have it collapse outward. If they are able to bring it down without a problem it could be more good news,” he added.
“But I don’t want to give anyone a false sense of hope.”
100_9224
MASSILLON, OH — .The 109-year-old building that caught fire Sunday is extremely hazardous and will likely pose a major challenge for demolition crews.
Structural engineers, insurance agents and reconstruction crews gathered in front of the charred shell of what was, just hours earlier, the home of Bonnie and Michael Fall and their business, Bonnie’s Engravers Gallery.
The massive fire that started in the basement of the three-story building around 5 p.m. Sunday was out. Firefighters left the scene to catch up on sleep.
But what remained by midday was a building that’s flesh was ripped, torn and burned and that’s structural integrity was compromised.
And while Engravers Gallery, 20 Lincoln Way E., was known to be a complete loss to anyone standing along the police tapeline, what was unknown was the condition of the two brick buildings that bookend it.
Structural engineer James R. Shives of the Akron-based GPD Group has instructed the city to prohibit either Wings, Wheels and Waves to the west or CJ Duncan Jewelers to the east to be occupied until both buildings’ walls are braced. They are bowing.
“Each building is independent and yet dependent on each other,” Massillon Fire Chief Thomas Burgasser said. “And now not only do you have the mortar and the bricks that have been compromised, you don’t have the rafter structure, you don’t have the support structure, the beem structure, which braced the walls outward.”
Burgasser said many of the challenges ahead in saving the remainder of the city block are outside his expertise.
“It’s going to be a hefty task to brace those walls to keep them from bowing while at the same time bringing down the structure,” he said.
The Massillon Fire Department and six state fire marshals were unable to determine how the fire started and have ruled the cause unknown.
However, it has been determined that the blaze began in the building’s basement near the front of the building, an area “with a large quantity of stored materials,” according to a department press release.
Massillon and fire crews from several neighboring communities targeted the fire from all angles. It mostly produced heavy smoke throughout Sunday evening until flames could be seen shooting from the building’s roof.
Firefighters sprayed buildings on the entire city block, from Erie Street North to First Street Northeast. They busted out windows on some businesses to allow the blaze to breathe, which sent a cloud of smoke over the city.
“The efforts of those guys to contain the fire to those three buildings was fantastic,” Burgasser said. “It is only through their efforts … that additional buildings were saved. These types of fires usually result in the loss of entire city blocks.”
“Half of it’s gone,” Shives, the engineer, said of Engravers Gallery. “The facade is still fairly stable. They’ll be able to open the street up, but just keep people away from the glass. There’s a brick wall in the back, but who knows what’s supporting it?
“It’s the prettiest building on the block,” he said. “It’s kind of a shame. They could (save it) but it’s up to the insurance company.”
The Engravers Gallery building was erected in 1900, according to property records on the Stark County Auditor’s Web site. It was once known as the Conrad building for its owner, Silas Conrad, whose hotel at the corner of Lincoln Way East and First Street was also destroyed by fire more than 25 years ago.
The top floors of Engravers Gallery and the structures that house Wings, Wheels and Waves and the former Cornell Agency were open at one time, but the Falls closed off their portion with a fire wall.
The blaze caused a “myriad of situations” inside.
A wall toward the rear of the building is standing with little or no support and a stairwell is “virtually hanging,” Burgasser said.
“The building is extremely hazardous at this time and as long as that building is hazardous it makes the other two hazardous as well,” he said.
The city will work with the businesses’ owners to retrieve any possessions until other determinations can be made. Design Renovations and Reconstruction began boarding the busted-out windows of Engravers Gallery and CJ Duncan Jewelers, as well as creating a wall to restrict access.
“They are securing the building from access and entry,” Burgasser said. “They are not going to secure the building, as in make it safe. There is nothing to do there.”
He said it was not “prudent” to allow any access to the sidewalk near the businesses, however, that stretch of Lincoln Way was reopened to traffic by Monday evening.
“We went a long way to determining that we are going to be opening the street,” Burgasser said. “That is by virtue of the fact that we have good information that the facade is not a problem, we’re not going to have it collapse outward. If they are able to bring it down without a problem it could be more good news,” he added.
“But I don’t want to give anyone a false sense of hope.”