A Clark County deputy fire marshal continues to investigate what sparked a blaze that destroyed a fairgrounds building housing two food stalls. He said Thursday signs suggest the cause may have been electrical.
There were several electric appliances near the fire’s point of origin, said Caleb Barnes, deputy fire marshal.
“But it’s still undetermined,” he said. “The investigation isn’t complete.”
The deputy fire marshal planned to return to the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds on Thursday. Firefighters responded to the fairgrounds early Wednesday morning and found the structure that included the Malt Shop and Grill and adjoining Chicken & Rib House up in flames.
Despite firefighters’ quick actions — the fire was extinguished in about 20 minutes — the flames burned so hot they melted commercial refrigerators and other large appliances, as well as everything else housed in the building.
Owners Betty and Larry Bowman said about a day after the fire that nothing has been recovered from the rubble.
“I was in shock yesterday. Today, it’s a bleak outlook,” Betty Bowman said. “Not one thing was saved.”
“Reality hit today,” she said.
The fire appears to have originated on the side of the building that housed the chicken shop, near its storefront, Barnes said. An employee was inside the stall the night before the fire, preparing to open it for an upcoming event, he said.
The deputy fire marshal wants to speak with the employee about whether a door or window may have malfunctioned, as flame patterns suggest as much. And Barnes said he also needs to ask if the employee used an appliance that night.
“More questions are coming up. I’m hoping to wrap up by tomorrow, but I still need to test my theories,” Barnes said.
As the investigation continues, the Bowmans have calculated a rough estimate of what it would cost to get back up and running.
Nearly every major piece of kitchen equipment costs between $500 to a few thousand dollars to replace. Those items include two grills, four fryers, a dishwasher, ice cream machines and refrigerators, among other necessities.
The Bowmans also ran another temporary food booth near the fairgrounds grandstand, but much of the materials used to construct the booth every year was stored in the malt shop, Betty Bowman said.
That puts the price tag around $100,000 to replace the equipment, which wasn’t insured because companies weren’t willing to take the risk, according to Betty Bowman.
Family members and friends have started a Go Fund Me campaign for the couple. It had raised about $1,500 as of Thursday afternoon. Others have offered to help if they can; more have offered prayers, which Betty Bowman said she appreciates.
Clark County assessors told Betty Bowman that it will clean up the area where the destroyed building stood and may rebuild, too. However, the path forward looks challenging, Bowman said.
“It’s mind boggling. Right now, we’re just hoping for a miracle.”
