As I reported previously, the huge Legado Luxury Apartment project under construction here in Prescott Valley burned to the ground early yesterday morning.
Today it's a sad scene in the heart of the city.
What was lost were 329 apartments under construction and the parking garage for a total of nearly 700,000 square feet of property.
Early estimates put the loss at 60 million dollars but a young man who I spoke to, an employee of the general contractor on the project, told me he thought it could run as high as 75 to 80 million dollars.
It was to have housed, in addition to the apartments, a rooftop restaurant and ground floor businesses.
Builders said the apartments were approximately 50 percent complete.
Now they're just rubble.
There are a great number of businesses in very close proximity to the site of this disaster and a large apartment project and the town's public arena lie just across streets from it.
The various fire departments and police agencies are to be commended for keeping the blaze from spreading.
And there were absolutely no deaths or injuries.
Still . . . a woman I spoke to at the scene yesterday told me she had no sympathy for the builders and owners of the project.
"That was just too big for our little town," she said.
I had to gently remind her that Prescott Valley isn't a "little town" anymore.
21 comments:
That's an astounding picture. Nothing left but the skeleton. It is good to know that there was no loss of life.
I do live in a little town, and I am always confused by people who will complain that our town is 'dying', but turn right around to decry any and all changes.
Big fires are very dangerous. It was lucky in this one that there were no casualties.
Thanks for the report. I drove by it today. I am interested in what started the fire. All will be revealed.
I'm glad there were no injuries or spread--but what a disaster to their plans for that area. My town is no longer little either. Many growing pains.
I'm guessing there was insurance on this project. That's where I would start investigating. How likely was it to burn spontaneously, and who had the most to gain. Then again, I have a suspicious nature. Good that nobody was hurt, and the businesses around it did not suffer damage. Kudos to the firefighters.
That's so sad! But I'm glad they kept it from spreading. Thank you for the update.
It looks so sad now, a bit like the end of times in futuristic movies. I am glad the fire didn't spread to other buildings.
tc-Light/Breezes That is a terrible hit for the community. Thanks for your reporting.
Was it built of wood? Doesn't seem to be much left of it!
It's such a blessing that no one died. I hope that the authorities are able to discern what exactly caused this conflagration. Lessons need to be learnt.
My first thoughts, too. How could it burn so fast (treated wood) in a rain storm?
Any word on the cause? I wonder if they'll rebuild it, or if this will kill the project. (Which might have been someone's goal?)
It looks awful, but it could have been worse.
So many fires seem to happen during construction or renovation. It is good that it didn't spread.
I used to work for the owners of the project and was involved in Legado for a time. It's interesting that people who live there and complain about progress don't realize that the town wouldn't be what it is if it weren't for the owners of this project. So instead of complaining about this project being too big, how about saying Thank You for building the town that I like and live in.
Bravo!
There were reports of an explosion just before the fire began. And the ATF is involved in the investigation into the start of it. But that's just speculation at this stage.
The apartments which surrounded the project were all of wood frame construction.
Surprised that it didn't spread.
Good work by several fire departments in a very tight space.
What a huge loss! I wonder what they will do with thevsite now? Rebuild? Or go on to something different?
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