Second blaze strikes Lincoln Four more buildings destroyed downtown

LINCOLN – Sending flames 30 feet into the air, a fast-moving fire Sunday night engulfed four downtown buildings, including the multilevel Lake Mall, just three days after another blaze wiped out two other Main Street structures.

At least seven businesses were destroyed in Sunday’s fire, which was reported at 8:40 p.m. and had spread to all four buildings within 90 minutes.

The fire was believed to be contained shortly before midnight.

The flames, clouds of billowing smoke and sounds of crunching and exploding glass drew scores of people who filled a nearby parking lot with cars and watched, mostly in silence.

“This is bizarre,” said one woman, watching in disbelief. On Thursday, two two-story wooden buildings across Main Street had burned during the day, wiping out four businesses and leaving two people homeless.

The temperature Sunday night was in the 20s and the fire left much of the downtown in an icy mist.

Firefighters from seven departments attacked the fire and used water pumped from town hydrants as well as the nearby Mattanawcook Stream.

“We’re hitting it with whatever we’ve got,” said one rushed firefighter.

No injuries were reported. But officials cited a close call early in the evening when seven firefighters had been in the Lake Mall building just as flames broke out in that structure. At first, only three or four firefighters exited the burning building. But the remainder followed a few minutes later. “For a few minutes, it was real scary,” said Deputy Fire Chief Hervey Clay.

Veteran Lincoln firefighters have said their worst fear always has been a fire on Main Street, where many of the old buildings butt up against one another.

The fire Thursday destroyed two buildings that dated from the early 20th century and took more than 70 firefighters to contain. Despite their efforts, those buildings’ roofs caved in and their walls came down.

Sunday’s fire was across the street from Thursday’s remains. It appeared to start in a single-story building that housed a business called Possibilities, a gift shop owned by Brenda Smith. Firefighters said the fire appeared to run along the roof line down the four buildings.

Next it hit Pratt’s Hodge Podge Shop, which sells wedding gown rentals, makes T-shirts and provides cake decorating.

Next hit was a building housing AMB Video, which included a tanning salon and an arcade room. Susan Custis, who operated the video store, said it had closed at 8 p.m.

She left at 8:10. “I didn’t smell a thing,” she said, standing across the street as the buildings burned.

All the businesses in the buildings were believed to have been closed when the fire broke out.

Then the blaze spread to the three-level Lake Mall, which houses at least four businesses. Some businesses believed housed in the Lake Mall included Northeast Occupational Exchange, Employment Services, Competitive Edge Consulting and KFI, a nonprofit organization that assists the mentally handicapped.

State fire marshals quickly arrived on the scene Sunday. “We’re just getting started on our investigation,” said investigator Ed Archer. In late evening, Rod Carr, chairman of the Town Council, stood watching the fire and simply described it all as a “hell of a mess. It’s really discouraging,” he said.

Fire Chief Bill Lee said he found the two fires “too much for one community to absorb.”

“It’s been a devastating week,” Lee said.