6 Stores in Sierra Madre Hit by Fire

Flames that erupted Wednesday in a gift shop in Sierra Madre’s historic downtown area gutted five adjoining businesses and a small apartment building before being brought under control.

Members of the town’s 40-person, all-volunteer Fire Department--joined by firefighters from six other San Gabriel Valley cities--took about two hours to extinguish the late-morning blaze, which authorities called the worst in the city in more than a decade. There were no injuries.

The fire began when an overloaded extension cord sparked, igniting some papers and cans of paint thinner in the back of the shop, officials said.

Damage estimates for the businesses--about half of which were retail shops well-stocked for the holidays--ranged from $750,000 to $1 million.

“All of our money was in merchandise,” said Michael Boling, the owner of Tequila Sunrise, a Navajo craft shop damaged in the blaze. “This was the absolute worst time of the year for this to happen.”

It didn’t take long, however, for the small-town spirit of this city of 11,250 to come to the forefront Wednesday.

Police Chief Irvin E. Betts was helping shopkeepers lug out waterlogged knickknacks from their smoky establishments.

A Domino’s Pizza outlet across the street was handing out free slices of pepperoni pizza because “it was the right thing to do,” owner Jim Hiigel said.

There was talk of holding a benefit dance and beer garden to raise money for the merchants who suffered most.

And Lynne Gordon, who lost her real estate office in the blaze, said she had received offers from competing real estate agents to temporarily set up shop with them.

“This is a one-of-a-kind community here,” Gordon said. “The people really bond together.”

Fire officials said the blaze quickly spread to the attic of Treasures of Sierra Madre, one of six shops that share a storefront and common attic, which is now illegal. The stores were built before the new code was in force, officials said.

The stores are on the southwest corner of Sierra Madre Boulevard and Baldwin Avenue--the same corner, townsfolk are quick to point out, on which scenes from the original version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” were filmed back in 1956.

The corner also is home to some of the city’s oldest brick buildings, which date from 1910. Originally a ranching and agricultural community, Sierra Madre incorporated in 1907 after the Pacific Electric street cars caused an increase in the population to more than 1,000.

Happy’s Liquor Store, damaged in the fire, may be the oldest continuously operating business in town. The store, which city officials said opened in 1934 on a $400 investment, sold wine for a nickel a pint from large wooden barrels to customers who brought their own bottles.

But over the years, the town at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains saw the number of retail shops decrease. Architects’ and real estate offices took their places.

In 1988, Sierra Madre’s per-capita retail sales stood at $906, compared to $2,000-$3,000 for cities of comparable size in Los Angeles County.

A Main Street Committee was created two years ago to study ways to revitalize the city’s retail base. The intersection of Sierra Madre Boulevard and Baldwin Avenue, the center of town, came under scrutiny.

Before the fire, Helen Elliott, owner of the damaged Spinning Wheel handmade-gift shop, and Fred Crocket, who owns two damaged stores, had been attempting to persuade other property owners on the block to unite in a project to expand the square footage and allow more pedestrian access.

The fire may actually speed those changes, Ron Hutson, the Main Street project manager, said Wednesday.

“For the city’s sales tax base, it’s a nominal loss,” Hutson said of the destroyed businesses. “And for the Main Street project, it’s a major disaster, but it also presents tremendous opportunity.”

Hutson said the building owners have already decided to meet to determine how best to rebound from the fire.

The blaze may also have solved the problem of upgrading the buildings to withstand earthquakes. All of the structures were among 60 in the city in need of reinforcement, Hutson said.

“I wouldn’t want to hold a champagne party tonight, but from this adversity could come a productive opportunity,” he said.

While the unreinforced masonry structures held up well against the flames, officials said, the blaze swept quickly through the attic and along the wooden rooftop that connects all the stores.

“It just took off and went all the way down,” said Fire Marshal Bill Kramer. “There was nothing to stop it.”

Also damaged were the Soft Touch Nail Salon, Webb & Gordon Realtors, and several units of the Sierra Madre Hotel, an apartment building.

The volunteers were called to duty at 11:31 a.m. by a loud siren in the middle of town that has been alerting the community to emergencies since the early 1920s.

The firefighters, who train every Wednesday night, as well as on the second and fourth Fridays of each month, are led by Chief Ed Tracy, an auditor for Paramount Pictures. His department includes plumbers, teachers, security guards and seismologists.

“Just because we’re volunteers, people tend to think we’re not as capable as we should be,” said Assistant Chief Tony Lerner, an aerospace engineer. “But our guys know their stuff. They did a great job.”

Still, for most of the Sierra Madre firefighters, it was the biggest blaze of their careers.

“It was intense,” firefighter Sandra Solis, who also works as a clerk handling water bills and dog licenses at City Hall, said of the experience.