Firefighters in downtown Jeffersonville worked throughout the day Sunday and into Monday, making sure all the hot spots have been extinguished after a fire destroyed several historic buildings in the city's business district. WAVE 3's David McArthur has more.
Once firefighters arrived at the scene of a fire at Horner Novelty on Spring Street just after 5 o'clock Sunday, they could only hope to contain the flames, which quickly spread to every building on the block.
Just after noon on Monday, firefighters were still putting out hotspots and surveying the damage. The smoldering rubble meant it would be awhile before an investigation into the fire's cause could begin. "We've got debris all in there and heavy fire damage," said Jeffersonville Police Chief Clark Miles, "but we do have investigators here from the ATF, the state fire marshal's office and also our investigators from the city's fire department."
Investigators say it could take days to determine what caused the fire.
Meanwhile, residents lamented the loss of a piece of Jeffersonville's history. "Twenty years we been working to get these buildings in this condition," said one resident, "and a fire wipes them out in just a few hours."
Business owners also surveyed the damage. Among the buildings affected by the fire was a newly renovated banquet hall that once housed a J.C. Penney store in the 1880s.
Hal Sanders, secretary of the Rose Hill Neighborhood Association. "This is like watching the Titanic sink."
The fire caused a "horrible, horrible loss," said Jay Ellis, director of the nonprofit Jeffersonville Main Street redevelopment organization. "In the last seven to eight years, we've seen this whole block that's on fire now revitalized," Ellis said.
"This is a huge chunk of downtown."
One home was destroyed, and several other families were forced out of their homes by smoke and water damage. "We've been told that there were anywhere from five to eight families that were displaced," said Phyllis Wilkins with Clark County Red Cross. "And we've only been able to make contact with four of those families."
There has been a lot of help offered, from area businesses providing food and drink for the firefighters on the scene and nearby hotels donating rooms for displaced families. If you'd like to help victims of the fire, contact the Clark County Red Cross at 812-283-8416.
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