Fire damages historic Idaho Building in Meridian's Old Town

A Friday morning fire at the historic Idaho Building in Meridian's Old Town took just two minutes to extinguish and several hours to mop up - but it could take months for the old building to recover.

As fire crews tore holes in the 1913 building's ceiling and dumped armloads of posters and wood from the upper story landing, Bevin Justice looked on from nearby.

Her family's company, Commercial Newspaper, has been housed there - at 136 E. Idaho Ave. near Main Street downtown - for 28 years.

Employees noticed phone system problems and then a smoky electrical smell before the fire alarm went off, Justice said.

"It is too soon to know what it looks like inside," she said, as dark smoke billowed from windows and holes in the roof. "I'll probably freak out when I get inside by myself."

The company specializes in producing sports posters for high schools and colleges.

Fire crews, who got the call around 10:45 a.m., arrived to find flames, but the building was already evacuated, officials said.

The fire was quickly knocked down, said Pam Orr, spokeswoman for Meridian Fire Department.

Firefighters lifted wooden printing presses and pulled up floorboards looking for hotspots, she said. No one was hurt in the fire.

Orr said it appears the fire started on the bottom floor, and traveled across the floor of the building's second story.

The extent of the damageisn't yet clear, said Deputy Chief Joe Silva.

The basement and first and second floors on the back third of the building were damaged by fire, he said. There was minor smoke damage throughout the building and water in the basement, he said.

The historic building probably has "a few bones broken," Silva said.

Employees and bystanders milled around taking pictures as firefighters cycled through the building, taking turns resting in the shade and rehydrating after enduring heat from the fire and the hot summer sun.

Gloria Eggers squealed and jumped as Meridian firefighters wheeled her undamaged red mountain bike from the blackened ruins of the building.

"I love them," Eggers said.

Her joy stood in stark contrast to her employer's mood.

For the moment, at least, Justice said she was relieved all 45 people in the building made it out safely.

Police shut down Main Street and Idaho Avenue to allow emergency vehicles easy access to the fire. Officials with the nearby Boys and Girls Club kept children inside the building until the blaze was out and the air cleared.

"Right now, we are just worried about when we will return to work,"said Sara Welch, another employee.

Silva said it will likely be "months" before anyone returns to the building, which has seen many uses in its long Meridian life.

Meridian historian Lila Hill said when the building was constructed in 1913 it had bathing rooms upstairs "so you could go to town and get a bath." In later years, the upper story had a couple of apartments.

The building housed several mercantile stores, including the Struve Mercantile and Graham and Bingham.

Many young Meridian boys learned how to wash windows as an after-school job at one of the mercantiles, she said.

"Probably 50 years ago, it became a branch of the Cash Bazaar in Boise," Hill said. "It is a historic building"

Kathleen Kreller: 377-6418