Reporter Mike Strand can be reached at 822-1418 or by e-mail at mstrand@salina.com.
Salina Journal
One of Salina’s oldest downtown businesses was heavily damaged over the lunch hour Wednesday when a fire swept through Anderson’s Leather Shop at 118 N. Sante Fe, drawing hundreds of onlookers.
The Salina Fire Department received its first call from someone who saw flames coming from the back of the building about 12:10 p.m., said Fire Marshal Roger Williams.
“Crews made a quick attack on the fire,” Williams said, but it didn’t take long before part of the internal structure started to collapse and firefighters “went into a defensive mode.”
In all, Williams said, two shifts of off-duty firefighters were called in, and two rural fire departments came into Salina to help. Firefighters from Rural Fire District. No. 5 helped fight the fire, while firefighters with Rural Fire District. No. 7 and off-duty city firefighters were deployed in case of another emergency elsewhere in town.
For much of the afternoon, Anderson’s Leather founder and owner Andy Anderson watched the fire from a chair across Fifth Street, in the parking lot of the Phoenix Motel.
Anderson started the business in 1949 and moved to the current location in 1961. It sold western wear, luggage and leather goods.
As he watched the business go up in smoke — thick black smoke that blotted out the sun — Anderson maintained his sense of humor.
“I’ll be looking for a job, now, if you hear of anything,” he told one of many downtown businesspeople who stopped by to offer a hug, a pat on the shoulder and condolences. “Make sure you tell the girls at the Journal to cancel my advertising.”
Anderson said the air-conditioning units atop the south side of the business were being serviced earlier in the day.
“I thought the guy was still up there. We heard two blasts, that blew out the windows,” Anderson said. “It didn’t take five minutes and the fire was on the first floor.”
He later found out the serviceman had already left.
From where he was watching, Anderson said he thought the fire had also spread into the basement, though it later appeared that at least the front of the ground floor was largely undamaged.
“There’s all those boots and shirts down there — about 2,000 pairs of boots,” he said.
Reports of two explosions
Williams said he had heard reports about the two explosions, but hadn’t yet confirmed them. He also said there were some smaller explosions from an electrical panel before the power was shut off.
He said it appeared the fire started on the second floor, but didn’t want to rule out that it might have started on the roof.
Because of the roof collapse, and the weight of the roof and water on the second-story floor, Williams said the building would have to be shored up with heavy timbers before he could begin investigating the cause.
“I suspect I’ll be here until the wee hours,” he said.
By 8 p.m., Williams was just getting into the second floor of the building.
The ground floors, he said, were in relatively good shape, and the fire had largely stayed on the second floor, though there was water damage. The north side of the business, he said, “even on the second floor, was not in too bad a shape.”
High wind, gusting to around 30 mph, didn’t help the firefighting effort, Williams said.
Firefighters also encountered a temporary problem with water pressure when they tapped into the hydrant at Fifth and Iron streets. They moved to another hydrant, at Fifth and Ash. Firefighters working at the front of the building, on Sante Fe Avenue, had plenty of water, Williams said.
Some onlookers questioned why only two of the three ladder trucks at the building were putting water on the fire initially. Williams said the third ladder truck, one of two on Sante Fe Avenue, was supplying water to firefighters who had entered the building’s ground floor.
“Initially, we set it up in case we needed it,” Williams said.
He said the third truck was used later during the fire.
The firewalls held
Stressing that firefighters hadn’t yet thoroughly explored the scene, Williams said that fire damage was limited to the Anderson’s Leather buildings, while The Groove, a nightclub next door to the south, had received substantial smoke and water damage.
Willams explained that downtown buildings are separated by fire walls — solid walls made of brick or cinder block that are intended to keep fires from spreading from one building to another.
“It appears the fire walls did hold,” Williams said. “We’re very fortunate today, given the circumstances, that we had the fire walls in place.”
Other businesses and loft apartments on the east side of the block were evacuated for about two hours. Williams said heating and air conditioning systems had pulled smoke into some buildings.
A missing cat
Heather Ferrell, executive director of the Salina Art Center, lives in an upstairs loft directly south of The Groove, at 1101/2 N. Santa Fe. She thought her apartment might have sustained smoke damage.
When Ferrell was informed about the fire, she ran from the Art Center, 242 S. Santa Fe, to her loft. Once there, she was able to retrieve one of her two cats from the loft before being ushered away by Salina firefighters.
The other cat was still missing late Wednesday.
“I have a board meeting today, and all I can think about is my cat,” she said, adding her sympathy was with Anderson.
_ Journal reporter Gary Demuth contributed to this story.
— Reporter Mike Strand can be reached at 822-1418 or by e-mail at mstrand@salina.com.
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