JOPLIN, Mo. —
The charred ruins of the former Rains Brothers Building in downtown Joplin continued to smolder Friday as firefighters worked to extinguish lingering hot spots in the debris.
Hot embers, fanned by strong westerly winds, reignited flames from time to time on Friday. They were doused by firefighters who were positioned in the 900 block of South Main Street. That block of the street was closed to through traffic.
City dispatchers received a 911 call about the fire at 10:01 p.m. Thursday. Fire crews arrived about three minutes later to find heavy smoke and fire coming from the roof of the three-story structure, said Keith Stammer, spokesman for the Joplin Fire Department.
Stammer said flare-ups are to be expected with this type of fire.
“When you get that much hot material in a pile, you’re going to have flame-backs,’’ he said. “They’re digging it out right now to find the cause.’’
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Firefighters used two aerial ladders Thursday night to spray heavy streams of water onto the building’s roof where fire broke through, shooting flames high into the night sky. Other firefighters trained streams of water on the front and back sides of the brick building.
The fire produced a thick column of smoke over the downtown area as wood floors, stairwells and rooms inside the former hotel burned.
Firefighters had most of the fire knocked down by 10:45 p.m. It was contained to the Rains Brothers Building, but some damage could have occurred to the Carl Adams Building, which is south of the building, and to The Pub bar, which is north of the building.
About 30 firefighters were sent to the blaze, Stammer said. They were assisted by the Redings Mill Fire Department.
The building was constructed in 1900 by Charles and George Rains, two successful mine operators from Galena, Kan. The design of the building was attributed to August C. Michaelis, one of Joplin’s leading architects and builders in the early 20th century.
The building was initially used as merchant storefronts that catered to lead miners in the Tri-State Mining District. The upper floors became the Roosevelt Hotel and more recently the Fay Hotel. The hotel was frequently used by people arriving in Joplin on Missouri Pacific Railroad trains at 10th and Main streets.
The building was among several in the 800 and 900 blocks of South Main Street that were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building has been vacant and in a state of disrepair for several years.
“I was really saddened to find out that it had burned,’’ said Leslie Simpson, an expert on Joplin’s historic buildings. “It was built sometime around 1900. Retail on main floor, offices and boarding rooms above.
“When I was on the Joplin Historic Preservation Commission back in the late 1980s, we targeted that building as one we wanted to try to save,’’ she said. “We got it listed on the National Register then in hopes that the listing (and tax credits) would attract a developer. Alas, that never happened.’’
The building is owned by Mark Williams and Jason Hamlin. It recently was listed for sale by the Glenn Commercial Group for $99,000.
“That listing had expired,’’ said Williams. “We had not decided what to do with it yet. We needed to find an investment partner or sell it.
“Yesterday after lunch, I took my property manager over there for a tour. We thought offices or loft apartments could go upstairs in the old hotel rooms. Downstairs would be an art gallery or antique shop.
“It was the best building on that block and had the most unique architecture. The back of the building had some brick issues,’’ he said.
Williams said floor joists were a conduit for the fire to spread from the building to the Carl Adams Building to the south. The extent of damage to that building was not clear on Friday.
David Hertzberg, the city’s public works director, said the building’s remains created an unsafe situation.
“The building will need to come down,’’ he said on Friday.
Williams said, “We’re working with a couple of contractors to get estimates to tear it down and haul it away. We had minimum insurance on that building. It will go to leveling it.’’
Williams said there is no indication of what caused the fire, but “a police officer told me he helped remove a homeless person from the back of the building.’’
Said Williams: “We tried to keep the building secure for that reason. But when you saw where a board had been moved, it was an indicator that someone had been in the building to seek shelter.’’
Homeless person
A homeless person was removed from the building by police before the fire. The building had no utility hookups.
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Lights from a Joplin fire engine silhouette two Joplin firefighters Thursday night in a fog of smoke. GLOBE | ROGER NOMER
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