Firefighters battle Old Town fire

Pocatello firefighters battled a fire at the Monarch Building at 240 W. Center in the Old Town area on Friday.

The fire was reported at 6:40 a.m. This is in the area of Center and Clark streets near Main Street.

“They said more than likely it will come down by the end of the day,” said Joel Mattingly, one of the owners of the Monarch Building, early Friday morning. “But there’s probably an 80 percent chance the building will implode or collapse.”

Fire officials had indeed said the 105-year-old building was a total loss, but on Friday evening, they said after they had started to demolish the outer walls with water pressure, the outer structure was deemed still sturdy.

They said they are going to let the fire continue to burn through the evening and monitor with a crew on-scene. Officials said their biggest regret is that it could have been prevented.

“This might have been totally averted had we known about it at 11 o’clock last night,” said Pocatello Fire Chief David Gates.

At one point the water became too much and officials had to close the Center Street Underpass down to pump out all the water that was running down the road.

The building houses a business called The Pegasus Book Store, which called the Monarch home for over 30 years. There was also a tattoo shop, a piercing shop and a massage therapy business that just moved in a few months ago.

Fifteen people lived in the building and have been relocated to the Thunderbird Motel. The owner of the hotel said she will be accepting item donations like clothes and toiletries for the displaced residents at the hotel.

Although investigation is still under way, firefighters suspect the fire may have started in the basement or the first floor of the building. Firefighters said the most important thing is everyone is safe, but there is a lesson to be learned.

“If you smell smoke, call the fire department,’ Gates said. “Let us come check it out. We have heat guns that we can use to detect heat in the walls. We’re trained to know where to look.”

Friends have set up a GoFundMe account to help those displaced by the fire. You can find that here:gofundme.com/ef7ed8. The Flip Side Lounge will also be donating 50 percent of proceeds Friday night to those displaced.