The details of last night’s fire on Whiskey Row are beginning to materialize.
Prescott Fire’s Jeff Knotek described the situation.
“Even in the few minutes it took the Fire Department units to get here, the fire had spread rapidly," said Knotek. "Fortunately there were no injuries to patrons, bystanders or fire fighters.”
Knotek continued to say that things could have been much worse. It could have looked like the Great Fire of 1900.
“We could have had a repeat of what happened 100 years ago and been bulldozing the entire block," he said.
The fire’s cause has been ruled accidental. Its point of origin was near a cluster of appliances in the back of Larry Hy’s Barbeque restaurant. The restaurant was completely destroyed, along with The Bird Cage Saloon.
Deborah Stamm and her husband own The Bird Cage.
“It’s not burned to the ground.," she said. "I just went and poked my head in and I could see our circa1870 back bar. It’s still standing. It needs a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I pray that someday we can continue the music and hope to welcome visitors back to The Bird Cage.”
The building on the other side of The Bird Cage, Prescott Food Store, was also severely damaged.
There was also smoke and water damage to the immediately adjacent buildings.