Second TD Fire destroys two businesses on West Sixth Street
Screen shot of a video by Tim Willis of the fire at 1002 W. Sixth Street, The Dalles
By Tom Peterson
Country Insurance and Arturos Jewelry Repair as well as multiple other shop spaces near Sahara Pizza in The Dalles were destroyed in a heavy blaze that started around 1 a.m. this morning, May 11.
Fortunately, it appears no one was injured at this time.
It was the second fire at the location in the past 3 and a half months.
CCCNews has reached out to Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue for additional information and will update this story after making contact.
At 11 a.m. this morning, two vehicles with the State Fire Marshal’s Office were on scene and Chief Jay Wood was on site as the investigation into the cause was getting underway.
Footage from Tim Willis on Facebook shows the building, with addresses of 1002, 1004 and 1006, West Sixth Street, consumed in flames as the fire was shooting through the roof of the building.
Eyewitnesses said booms were used to spray massive amounts of water on the blaze.
Mid-Columbia received mutual aid from several departments, including Cascade Locks and Hood River.
Hunter Howell who works with his father Keith at Country Insurance said he was alerted to the fire at 6:30 a.m. this morning when a friend was redirected around the scene.
He went to the insurance office around 7 a.m. and said it “sounded like the fire originated” in another portion of the building and they were not sure what started it.
“I was very shocked to see another one happen,” Hunter Howell said. “I thought we would never see another fire at that location, honestly.”
Back in January, David John Daniels, 66, was jailed on arson charges after a fire at 1004 W. 6th Street destroyed the interior of the vacant shop and caused smoke damage to three other abutting business locations, including Studio Hair and Nail.
Arturo Dominguez lost his entire business in the blaze. The jewelry repair man was going through burned tools and other items on site this morning at 1002 W. Sixth Street, The Dalles
Arturo Dominguez was on site this morning assessing the damage. He had been renting his space for Arturos Jewelry Repair there for seven years.
“Nothing is salvageable,” he said as he went through boxes of tools. “I worked as a cook for 20 years to buy these tools. I’ve been working my whole life for this.”
Dominguez and his family worked through the rubble, finding burned Breitling and Rolex watches destroyed by the blaze.
He said he had insurance, and he did not know what he was going to do next. “I think so. I have a lot of customers,” he said. “But for now, I am a little confused.
Henry Tran, owner of Studio Hair and Salon as well as other buildings affected by the fire. He owns shops at 1002, 1004, 1006 and his business at 1008 W. Sixth St. Fire destroyed much of the U-shaped building. Luckily, firefighters were able to keep his shop from being damaged.
Next door to where the blaze occurred, Henry Tran, owner of Studio Hair and Nails, had his shop open. Tran is the owner of the entire building complex and he said it was insured.
“It’s sad,” he said of the second blaze in three months. “When I got the call, I said, what, fire again?”
Henry had two customers in chairs while being interviewed this morning.
“What can you do, you know,” he said.
Howell said their Country Insurance office was able to also continue operating today as they had transferred documents and phone services to operable in remote locations. The Howells have also maintained a Country Insurance office in Hood River for 28 years.
“We actually had taken the phones out of that office,” Hunter Howell said. “It was really lucky timing for switching over to an online system for our phones.”
Did they have insurance?
“Thank God, we did,” he said. “That’s something I am working on right now.”
Utility workers assess power lines on a neighboring vacant building on West Sixth Street after a fire tore through Country Insurance and Arturos Jewelry Repair this morning, May 11.
