News : Following additional clean up, Downtown streets to be opened on Monday, 2/12/18

The City of Vinton and local businesses continue to deal with the aftermath of the fire that startedduring the evening of February 8, 2018. The fire was reported in the Michael & Dowd Furniture storeand subsequently spread to the Clingman Pharmacy and Fischer Law Firm before being brought undercontrol. Fires in the basements of Michael & Dowd's and Clingman's were unable to be completelyextinguished at the time due to the large amount of material that had previously collapsed into those basements from the roof and upper floors. That material prevented water streams from adequatelyreaching areas that subsequently continued to burn and create significant smoke. Following an inspection by a structural engineer on Friday, February 9th, the City of Vinton demolishedthe remaining exterior walls of Michael & Dowd Furniture and Clingman Pharmacy. This was done dueto the instability of those walls and the danger they presented unless taken down immediately. Power was restored to surrounding businesses on the evening of February 9th. Some of thosebusinesses suffered smoke damage and they are currently conducting clean-up operations. On Sunday, February 11th, the Vinton Fire Department was finally able to suppress most of theremaining basement fires while working closely with the demolition contractor and heavy equipment. The City of Vinton anticipates re-opening streets surrounding the fire scene on Monday, February 12thfollowing additional clean-up of the area and the erection of barriers around the effected structures. The public is asked to respect barricades and fencing and avoid crossing those lines for their own safety. The investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing and had been hampered by the condition of the fire scene and the persistent fires under the debris pile. ______________________________________________________