Estes Park Fire Destroys Much Of The City's Main Tourism Thoroughfare (VIDEO)

Update:

The Denver Post Reports That The Fire Is Waning:

At noon, firefighters were still dousing the smoldering building -- one of the city's oldest structures -- that housed seven businesses. Dozens of people were sitting on the hillsides above town, watching the action.

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The Park Theater Mall in Estes Park has been largely destroyed by a Monday morning fire.

The Denver Post reports on the damage:

As many as six businesses in the mall were destroyed by the fire.

"This is a real tragedy for the property owner and businesses in the building," said Pinkham.

The mall is located on the south side of East Elkhorn Avenue, the main street through the town.

The Estes Park volunteer fire department was aided by firefighters from Loveland, Fort Collins, Allenspark and several rural fire departments.

As of 10:15 a.m., the roof of the mall had collapsed, although walls of the mall, described as being relatively small, were still standing, said Pinkham.

Fox 31 is reporting that the fire started in the attic above a Christmas shop.

9News cites an Estes Park News reporter in describing the gravity of the fire:

"It's still really bad, there's huge flames still coming out of the Park Theatre Mall historic building, the flames have reached the front of the Park Theatre Mall building, which is on the Elkhorn side, which is our very downtown," Kris Hazleton of the Estes Park News said around 9 a.m. "So the fear is there since the wind's picked up, the fire is going to spread to different buildings in the downtown area."

Watch Home Video Of The Fire In Its Early Stages:

Comments

[youbigdummies]

06:31 PM on 10/19/2009

The mall is located on the south side of East Elkhorn Avenue, the main street through the town.

Since Huffington Post knows nothing about Estes Park, and is quoting only the most sensational sentences from local news outlets - out of context - let me clarify this for them. Elkhorn Avenue is the main thoroughfare through town....it was not destroyed. What was destroyed was one storefront mall that ran perpendicular to Elkhorn Avenue. Snatching sensationalized sentences out of several news sources ... what has journalism come to?

[youbigdummies]

02:46 PM on 10/19/2009

AGREED ... this shows precisely why you can't trust this media organization. They don't have a clue what they're talking about and obviously never set foot in Estes Park. This is one storefront mall which was destroyed, not the "main tourism thoroughfare." It's a tiny fraction of the downtown area. You people need to raise your standards of journalism or quit your so-called reporting. Very dissapointing ... you spend more time doing damage than practicing responsible journalism.

[toltec998]

05:12 PM on 10/19/2009

Rather than calling names can you offer any solutions. Finding good media sources is not so easy these days.

[youbigdummies]

06:24 PM on 10/19/2009

How about don't report on something unless you know what you are talking about.

[Aaron Deschane]

01:54 PM on 10/19/2009

Agree with valincoga - not responsible.

[valincoga]

01:39 PM on 10/19/2009

Try a little responsible journalism please - "Much of the main tourism thoroughfare" was not destroyed. Yes, this is a tragedy for the businesses that were lost, but this is one storefront along the main street corridor. It is 1/2 block deep, containing 7 or 8 stores, but this headline makes it sound like all of downtown has been destroyed, which is NOT THE CASE. For all of those who still have businesses in Estes, please report accurately...this could greatly affect tourism in the area - people will cancel plans to visit if they think the area has been destroyed - it has not.

[Gary Angle]

02:34 AM on 10/20/2009

I heard from a reliable source that the entire city was leveled by the blast! The city is now under marshal law and looters are being shot. The Rev Jesse Jackson has appealed for calm and Park Rangers are keeping an eye on renegade elk hunters, who are taking advantage of the chaos!