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Saturday, February 24, 2007
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20 years later, the memories burn brightly LAUREL STREET FIRE: A LOOK BACK Staff Writer Today, the south side of the 600 block of Laurel Street includes a city-owned parking lot flanked by the Blue Ox Bar and the Downtown Art and Frame Co.
But 20 years ago, that Laurel Street parking lot was packed with businesses - The T-Shirt company, Bud's Jewelry, Alibi Bar, Alderman's Hardware and Furniture, Roberts Drug and Hallmark. Monday marks the 20th anniversary of the Feb. 26, 1987, fire that destroyed those businesses.
A Brainerd woman remembers that day well. Alderman's Hardware and Furniture had been on Laurel Street since 1930. The store was a one-stop shop, said Betty Alderman, who with her husband, the late Jim Alderman, owned and operated the store. She remembers being notified about 3 a.m. on Feb. 26, 1987, that the family business was on fire.
"That was waking up to a nightmare," said Betty Alderman in a recent interview. "To me that's unfortunate because if we'd known earlier we might be able to get some things out."
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Betty Alderman stood Thursday in a downtown Brainerd parking lot that used to be the site of Alderman's Hardware and Furniture. Their store was one of six businesses destroyed in a fire on Feb. 26, 1987. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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Firefighters responded to the fire about 2:30 a.m. after a woman living above Roberts Drug reported a smell of rotten eggs and smoke entering her apartment.
Retired Brainerd firefighter Jerry Thompson, then an assistant fire chief, was one of the first to respond. Crawling along the floor of Roberts Drug to get at the fire, Thompson said he saw a pinhole of light in the carpet. That's when he knew the fire had eaten through the floor. Fire Chief Bob Hannon pulled every firefighter out of the buildings.
"We set up and waited for the fire to come out of the building," Thompson said. "Next thing I know, everything is on fire. The fight was on."
For 20 hours, firefighters from Brainerd, Crosby and Nisswa worked nonstop to contain the fire to the already burning buildings, an effort that saved the surrounding businesses - Blue Ox Bar, Forever Young Bridal, Four Generation Fashion, Opal Ann's Closet and the VFW. The Blue Ox still experienced severe smoke and water damage. Alderman's and Roberts Drug collapsed about 5:25 a.m. The loss was estimated to be between $1-$1.5 million.
Firefighters had water lines running up and down the street covering three sides of the block and were perched on nearby roofs to combat the flames, pumping thousands of gallons per minute.
"Instead of offense we went defense and just held it and controlled it," said current Brainerd Fire Chief Fred Underhill, who at the time had been with the department for four years.
Underhill described that night as "cold, wet and miserable." Breaks consisted of returning to the fire hall to dry off and change clothes. He credited the community for coming together to help firefighters, business owners and residents affected by the fire. He also said mutual aid from Nisswa and Crosby was a key to stopping the fire from advancing earlier.
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In the early-morning hours twenty years ago this week, Brainerd firefighters poured water onto the remaining building on the south side of Laurel 20. This image became one of the first local breaking news color photos ever published in the Brainerd Dispatch. Brainerd Dispatch/File/Steve Kohls
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Thompson said at the time he disagreed with Hannon's decision to pull out of the buildings, but looking back on that day he knew it was the right decision.
"It was just one of those damn fires where you don't dare go inside and fight it," Thompson said. "Hannon was exactly right. At the time I thought he was wrong, I thought that we could have taken a line in there, but looking back at it he had the right idea. We could have got someone hurt real bad."
As it turned out, no one was injured in the fire - not the firefighters battling the blaze or the 35 people living in the apartments above the burning buildings.
"Everybody that was there went home alive and all of our people came home and that's always the No. 1 concern," Underhill said.
"Buildings can be replaced," added Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Durant, who as a firefighter also responded to the 1987 fire.
That everyone got away from the fire safely was a blessing, Alderman said.
"Material things are just that - materials. Thankfully no one was hurt, " Alderman said.
Still, there were losses. Alderman said a documentary on the history of Alderman Hardware that she had created as a surprise for her husband was destroyed. Jim Alderman lost a large fish mount that for years had been a part of the store's fishing contest.
The fire meant the end of the Alderman business after almost 60 years. Jim had retired well before the 1987 fire, but Betty continued to work at the store. After the fire, she opened a shop in Opal Ann's Closet to accommodate her customers, but she closed the doors in 1991 - ending the longest-established family-owned business in Brainerd, she said.
"It was devastating," Betty Alderman said. "I truly enjoyed going to work, meeting people. I enjoyed the daily challenge. It was a family store. Our employees were considered part of our extended family."
"A fire, it's so final. A fire can destroy so much and affect so many people's lives. So many families we had employed and their jobs were gone. Fires are extremely devastating."
Though it took 20 hours to put the fire out, the firefighters' job wasn't completed on the 600 block of Laurel Street for about a week. Underhill said firefighters had to watch the site 24 hours a day for about a week until the fire marshal's office could investigate. The cause of the fire was determined to be a faulty furnace control in the basement of Roberts Drug.
When the rubble was removed, the area of the buildings was turned into a city parking lot. Alderman said it was her opinion that the fire led to the demise of downtown Brainerd.
There are nine members of the Brainerd Fire Department who were around for the 1987 fire. Despite improvements in fire prevention systems and in firefighting equipment, downtown Brainerd is not immune to a fire like the one in 1987, Underhill said.
"I'm not picking on Brainerd, don't get me wrong, but look at the basic structure of some of our buildings. They're beautiful buildings but they still have the same flaws now that they had then," Underhill said.
Durant said an advantage today is the fire department, with better equipment, would be able to get more water onto a fire than it could in 1987.
MATT ERICKSON can be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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