DAYTON — A fire spread Friday inside the Old Centre City Building in Downtown Dayton, and some wonder if, or when, it will happen again.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, firefighters blocked off Main Street between 3rd and 5th Streets for more than two hours.
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News Center 7′s Malik Patterson reports the first responders had many challenges with such an old building.
The Dayton Fire Department said the fire started on the fourth floor, where they faced unique problems as they worked to knock down the fire.
“Extremely cold temperatures, we need to circle personnel through, get them into a warm spot,” Dayton Fire Chief Mike Rice said. “So that also led to the large response.”
The fire department even had a hazmat crew on standby.
“The building’s been vacant for so many years, we’re unsure of what could potentially be in there, so it’s just precautionary,” Rice said. “So we’re just decontaminating them to make sure if there were any contaminants, we’re washing those off”
Investigators called the fire ‘suspicious,’ and Rice said the Housing Department would secure the fourth floor.
William Gee saw the fire start, and worries about the problems that come with abandoned buildings.
“Because you get a lot of people that are out here that don’t have anywhere to go,” Gee said. “See an opportunity like that, they’re going to go in there and stay.”
Another member of the Dayton, Ted Bright, community has similar concerns.
“You build a better mousetrap, nature builds a better mouse eventually. Somebody’s probably going to figure out another way to get in there,” Bright said.
But Bright’s solution is simple.
“I would like to see businesses occupy that building,” Bright said.
The Dayton Arcade told News Center 7 that they are trying to secure the money to purchase and redevelop the building next year.
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