BREA : Landmark Building Destroyed in Fire

A blaze early Sunday destroyed Brea’s oldest commercial building, a two-story, wood-frame landmark that once housed the city’s first barbershop.

The building, which a Brea historical committee had targeted for preservation, was gutted by the 4 a.m. fire. Firefighters stopped flames--as high as 50 feet at times--from spreading to the adjacent Brea Hotel, where about 50 residents were evacuated for about two hours, said Brea Fire Capt. Dave Mahlsted. The blaze was contained in about an hour, he said.

When built in 1911, the structure contained two stores and a boardinghouse for workers in the area’s booming oil industry. Residents referred to it as the Wall Building, named for some of the original owners.

“It’s kind of a sad thing to see it disappear,” said Brian Saul, chairman of the Brea Historic Committee. “It’s not just a building. It’s a part of history that is gone.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, although neighbors have reported seeing transients going in and out of the boarded-up building for the past several days. Some neighbors also said they heard a party coming from the building Saturday night.

“(The hotel) is one of those buildings that you say, ‘Boy, it’s going to go someday,’ ” Mahlsted said. “Boy, it was close.”

Residents of the Brea Hotel were awakened by firefighters and hotel management. The Red Cross set up a temporary shelter nearby.

“It was scary, it was real scary,” said Juan Lopez, 49, who lives in the hotel. “I thought the whole section was burning up.”

Nine units--including firefighters from Fullerton, La Habra and Buena Park--helped extinguish the blaze. The loss was estimated at $300,000, Battalion Chief Joel Shennum said.

Over the years, the Wall Building housed a drugstore, boutique, Brea Chamber of Commerce offices, a local Republican Party headquarters and a real estate agency. The building also was featured as a sheriff’s office in the movie “Silver Streak.”

The landmark, located at 107 and 109 E. Ash St., was purchased by the Brea Redevelopment Agency in 1988. Since then, it has been vacant, and vandals have smashed most of the windows.