The remnants. Photo by Garth Epling-Card.


PREVIOUSLY

Rumors of a gas explosion causing the Arcata Jan. 2 fire that burned down half a city block are unfounded, said Arcata Fire District (AFD) Chief Chris Emmons at a city council meeting this morning.

The Arcata City Council met this morning to accept a local declaration of emergency and hear updates from several city officials on how they’re dealing with the aftermath of the fire, as well as allow them to share their experiences and thoughts on how they dealt with the fire while it was happening. 

Emmons told the council there was no evidence a gas explosion had caused the fires, despite rumors floating around social media and at least one local news site. A gas leak did start later, Emmons said, but only increased the fire’s size and did not start it. 

AFD is making headway investigating the cause, Emmons said, and might be able to share more information in the next week.

Figuring out what did cause the fire will be a long process. An Arcata Police Department detective has been assigned to the case, and city manager Merritt Perry said insurance investigators representing each of the owners of the affected properties will want to conduct their own investigations. They might start in two to four weeks. 

He said that using excavators to tear the buildings down was a drastic move but necessary to prevent the fire from spreading. 

Emmons thanked everyone in the community and the other fire departments, whose help was invaluable. Firefighters dumped more than 2.5 million gallons of water on the inferno, more than 9,000 gallons of water every minute during its peak.

“Everybody came together,” Emmons said. “One of the things we always hear in the after-action [breakdown] is that communication was bad. In my 34 years of doing this, this was one of the best-run, most-communicated events I’ve been involved with. It’s not typically that way. As drastic and tragic as this fire was — and I’m not saying this flippantly — it actually went as well as it could.”

Moving Forward

Councilmembers ratified the declaration of emergency, allowing Arcata to ask the state for funding to respond to the environmental damages the fire caused. Perry said even just assessing what those damages are is beyond the funding capabilities of both Arcata and Humboldt County. Apparently, state senator Mike McGuire called Perry six times to offer whatever help he could.

Allowing each insurance agency to conduct their own investigation into the fire will increase the amount of time it takes to clean the site up, Perry said, but it’s a necessary step so that everyone who lost a business, building or a home in the fire can get a payout. Though it is their responsibility, putting pressure on the property owners to clear the site may make that more difficult. If the insurance companies pay out less than it costs to clean the site, Perry said Arcata may have to “apply some pressure.”

In the meantime, they can layer tarps over some of the rubble to prevent more of it from washing into the waterways and keep blocking off storm drains. 

Perry said Arcata will do everything it can do to allow business owners to rehome their businesses without any unnecessary fuss over permitting. Meredith Maier, the Arcata Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Director, said they’re working on helping connect them with resources and money. Councilmember Meredith Matthews said they’ll also be surveying the business owners to ascertain what they need to get business running again, or what their employees need.

She also floated the idea of building a wall around the debris and painting murals on it so people don’t have to look at the rubble.

The Chamber of Commerce will also sponsor a parade in the Arcata Plaza on Feb. 1 at noon to honor the first responders who stopped the fire. 

“The ultimate goal would be rebuilding,” Perry said. “I think there’s a lot of folks that have expressed interest in that already…People want to continue to invest in Arcata. The businesses want to be here. I think that’s a really good thing.”