update 09-29-2009
The owner of the Helm and Newman Homes, One By One Leadership, presented to the Historic Preservation Commission their new plan to move forward with restoration of both homes. They also provided a letter of intent for a $500,000 loan from the Housing Authority to help make it possible.
While the jury is still out on the Newman home, the damage is not as severe as some had feared. Or better put – there is a good possibility it could be saved. The roof collapsed in the fire mentioned below, but the 1st floor, 2nd floor and walls maintained much of their integrity.
Friday night September 18th ABC 30 reported that the fire destroyed historic home at L Street and Divisadero in downtown Fresno.
Fresno Fire Department has not yet discovered the cause of the blaze.
Newman Home at 1743 L Street was built in 1911 in a Colonial Revival style. It is on the Local Register of Historic Resources. Via Historic Fresno website.
L Street streetscape. Helm home, Newman home, and Black/Long home
historic Newman Home porch detail
This is why older architecture is so cool. Time is cruel to the machinations of man.
I have photos of the fire department working this incident. Fire fighters were out there for several hours overhauling. Because the house was vacant, the fire attack went into “surround and drown” mode very quickly. They set up two ladder pipes (out front and in back from the alley) and stretched handlines. The roof and second floor collapsed into the house.
Destroyed might be the wrong word. I went out there this afternoon to take some photos to document the condition, and an engine from the FFD showed up to check on the building. They went inside and inspected the condition, even going up on the 2nd floor. The FFD did a great job in putting down the fire, and in the words of one of the fire fighters, it’s probably salvageable. The 2nd floor didn’t collapse as far as we could tell – the 3rd floor did collapse though.
Joe–glad to hear the update. The battalion chief was calling it a total loss last night. One of the big problems with wood frame houses is that if the roof (rafters especially) is destroyed, the walls tend to destablize and start twisting. Usually, once that happens, it’s cheaper to completely demolish and start over. The classic example of this was a house on Fruit just south of Barstow that burned several years ago. The owners tried to save the half that didn’t burn, only to discover the post-fire problems were so great it was more efficient to start over..