Falconer Mayor Looks To Restore Normalcy In Wake Of Fire
FALCONER — As investigators work to identify the cause of Wednesday’s harrowing fire in Falconer, village officials are hoping a sense of normalcy will soon resume.
On Thursday, Falconer Mayor James Rensel told The Post-Journal that many businesses near the fire-damaged structure at 29-39 W. Main St. have seen reduced customership in the wake of the fire — despite being unaffected and remaining open as usual.
These include Phil’s Auto Plaza, the Blue Fin Pet Shop, the Falconer Vac Shop, M&T Bank, CVS Pharmacy and Belle-view East.
Rensel said a section of road between Davis and Work streets will likely be closed until Monday, but ample parking is still available at Phil’s Auto Plaza and CVS Pharmacy, as well as the Budget Inn Motel.
Pedestrian access is also available throughout the area.
“I don’t want to inhibit a lot of people who want to shop down here in Falconer,” Rensel said. “Trying to maintain the safety of the area has had unintended consequences as nobody’s shopping down there.”
Rensel said county fire investigators are done collecting evidence from the scene and are currently analyzing what they’ve found for a cause.
The next couple days, he said, are going to involve rendering the fire and collapse zone safe and restoring the flow of traffic.
Rehabilitating the ground-floor businesses that were damaged remains a question for the insurance companies, he added.
“Getting the business owners on the same page as their insurance companies, and then having the insurance companies contact the contractors has been occupying all of our time,” Rensel said. “It’s not a fast process.”
On Wednesday, the downtown Falconer building became a hub for about a dozen fire departments, when shortly before 8 a.m., a resident reported seeing smoke coming from the third floor. Firefighters responded and remained on scene well into the afternoon, dousing the building with water and cordoning off the area for risk of a structural collapse.
No injuries were reported.
The American Red Cross assisted 19 people affected by the fire, setting up a headquarters behind the fire scene near Falconer’s DPW site.
Though much of the fire damage occurred in the upper residential area of the building, the businesses at the ground level sustained heavy damage from the water trickling down.
Businesses affected included Genesis Enterprises/Cassco Property Management, Better Life Nutrition, Village Salon, Roots Salon and The Body Shoppe.
On Friday, the First Baptist Church, located at 37 W. Falconer St., will hold a prayer service for the fire victims at 7 p.m., according to Pastor Gordon Robbins.
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