Photo by Jeff Harris
9:45am | A fire broke out at the longtime home of the Press-Telegram on 6th Street and Pine Avenue on Saturday, damaging the former newspaper’s home and billowing smoke before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze. The Press-Telegram reports that two firefighters were injured, one with a back injury.
Firefighters are still investigating the cause of the blaze that caused the building to start spewing out smoke that stained the outside walls, but there seems to be little if any structural damage thanks to the quick work of the Fire Department.
The building was home to the Press-Telegram for nearly 100 years before the newspaper sold the building and moved to its current location on Ocean Boulevard in 2006. Big plans were in store for the landmark property in an envious downtown location, most notable to create a massive mixed residential-commercial mixed use development, but the recession struck that down and plans have not progressed for some time. Meanwhile the property is well-known as a hangout for squatters and it was really a matter of time before something like this happened.
From Press-Telegram reporter Pamela Hale-Burns [PT]:
An arson team was on scene at the boarded-up building to investigate the fire, which appears to have started in the pressroom, where the newspaper’s presses once stood.
Thanks very much to photographers Dale Brown and Jeff Harris, who provided the photos you see here.
Photos below by Dale Brown
Photos below by Jeff Harris
