The Loogootee branch of Cartridge Depot in Indiana is the only one of the businesses affected by the fire that decided not to relocate, according to the local mayor.
A year on from the fire, which took place on 12 November 2014, there are still charred red bricks on the ground in the downtown area of Loogootee, WBIW reported.
The owners of the branch, Jason and Carol Jones, opened the store in 2009, and Jason was in the building when the fire started. Indiana Economic Digest reported at the time that Jason said: “We did notice a flash of flight. We didn’t think much of it at first.”
Carol said simply: “It’s tragic. It was bad.”
Over 100 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze which started when a glue gun sparked in Rosie’s T-Shirt Shop, engulfing Loogootee square within 10 minutes. At one point, officials had to knock down the wall of a beauty salon to get to the fire inside, and seven businesses in total were affected by the fire.
Firefighters said construction material, no fire walls and the age of the buildings made them susceptible to fire. Many were centuries old with roofs that predated building codes.
Some of the businesses including Rosie’s, which had been there 25 years, were relocated to other buildings in the vicinity.
Jason Jones added: “It’s devastating to everybody, business owners, people in apartments, older people who grew up seeing those buildings that just aren’t there anymore,” Jones said. “It’s a heartache not easy to get over.”
Cartridge Depot has stores in Arizona, Hawaii Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New York and Texas.