While firefighters labored to put out the raging fire at the former Crawford Furniture building and prevent it from spreading to other businesses like Artone Manufacturing, a rainbow appeared in the smoke and water between Crawford Furniture and Artone Manufacturing. The rainbow provided hope for the employees of Artone Manufacturing that “everything would be ok.” Submitted photo by JoEtte Fisher

As tragedy loomed over the community Wednesday with a major fire on Allen St., a rainbow provided hope and encouragement to those watching the event unfold.

Wednesday’s massive fire, which ravaged the former Crawford Furniture building, located at 1061 Allen St., presented a serious danger to Artone Manufacturing, located at 1089 Allen St.

The employees at Artone Manufacturing were forced to leave the building as a necessary precaution as the fire consumed the nearby Crawford Furniture building.

“We were able to evacuate quickly and, most importantly, everyone is safe,” JoEtte Fisher, a senior graphic designer at Artone Manufacturing, said. “We are incredibly thankful to our local first responders as well as all surrounding departments that not only came to put the fire out, but also to do what they could to prevent the fire from spreading to Artone.”

While the fire destroyed the historic Crawford Furniture building, Fisher and the rest of the employees were relieved that firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to Artone. Had the fire spread to Artone, it could have consumed another building that has been an important part of the Jamestown community for decades.

“Artone will be 50 years old in 2024 and we plan on making it there,” Fisher said.

Fisher explained that Artone employees were very concerned that the fire would spread from the Crawford Furniture building, especially with Wednesday’s wind conditions. The main concern was that the fire could spread to the roof on the west end of the building, which Fisher said houses a variety of flammable materials.

“The wind was very strong all day long, blowing east directly toward Artone,” she said. “We had that against us. Firefighters were constantly dousing the Artone building with water to help deflect a disaster.”

In the midst of the devastation of the fire and the pressing concern that it could spread to Artone, Fisher said a rainbow appeared between the two buildings. She said the Artone employees were “touched” to see the rainbow “kissing” the Artone building once they had safely evacuated the building and interpreted it as a sign of comfort.

“It was nice to see a rainbow in the midst of a disaster,” she said. “Getting a glimpse of the rainbow that quickly presented itself was quite unexpected and special. Anyone who saw it seemed to be comforted in a time of catastrophe. It was received as a sign of hope that all would be ok.”

Artone Manufacturing remained closed Thursday as a result of the fire but anticipated a possible reopening as early as Friday.