By late Monday afternoon, a corner business on Morley Avenue near Court Street appeared completely demolished by a structure fire. The fire was reported to first responders around 1 p.m. that day.
Around 4 p.m. on Monday, first responders were still on the scene of a fire that damaged multiple properties on Morley Avenue. No injuries were reported, according to Nogales Fire Marshal Jeff Polcari, who said a cause had not been confirmed.
Firefighters try to douse a blaze at the corner of Morley Avenue and Court Street.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
Smoke and flame billow up from stores at Morley Avenue and Court Street on Tuesday afternoon.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
Smoke wafts past the Historic 1904 Courthouse from the fire just across Court Street.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
Rubble remains after the demolition of a corner building on the 250 block of Morley Avenue.
Photo by Angela Gervasi
Fire and smoke shoot out of the top of Chi's department store.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
Power lines near the burning stores catch fire.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
Dozens stopped to watch, film and photograph a fire on the 250 block of Morley Avenue Monday afternoon.
Photo by Angela Gervasi
Smoke from the fire fills the air above Morley Avenue and Court Street.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
The fire burns at the corner of Morley Avenue and Court Street.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
By late Monday afternoon, a corner business on Morley Avenue near Court Street appeared completely demolished by a structure fire. The fire was reported to first responders around 1 p.m. that day.
Photo by Angela Gervasi
Firefighters converse in front of the burning storefront.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
A firefighter sprays water on the blaze.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
The dome of the Historic 1904 Courthouse is barely visible through the smoke.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
Smoke appears to be coming from the roof of a flower shop adjacent to the second burning building.
Photo by Jonathan Clark
Around 4 p.m. on Monday, first responders were still on the scene of a fire that damaged multiple properties on Morley Avenue. No injuries were reported, according to Nogales Fire Marshal Jeff Polcari, who said a cause had not been confirmed.
A dilapidated former store in downtown Nogales caught fire on Monday while a demolition crew was working inside, authorities said. The blaze destroyed the building and damaged neighboring structures as well.
According to a statement from Nogales Fire Chief Jeff Sargent, the building where the fire started had suffered a partial roof collapse and was "in an abatement process with the City of Nogales." The crew was inside the structure "using a cut-off wheel when the fire started," Sargent said.
Cut-off wheels are grinding tools used to cut through metal and can produce showers of sparks.
Still, speaking at around 4 p.m., NFD Fire Marshal Jeff Polcari said the cause of the blaze was still to be officially determined, since the fire was still burning and investigators hadn't been able to examine the scene. In a statement issued later in the day, he said there were no signs of arson.
NFD received the initial call about the fire at 1:08 p.m., Sargent said in his statement, though Polcari later updated the time to 12:59 p.m. Upon arrival, NFD crews found an active fire in a single-story building, and additional units were requested from surrounding departments.
NI staffers arrived at the scene at about the same time and saw the former home of New Fashion Line at the northeast corner of Morley Avenue and Court Street fully engulfed in fire. The adjacent business to the south, a department store called Chi’s, was also burning and another flower shop nearby appeared to be either on fire or under immediate threat.
The store where the fire started had long been closed to the public, though it continued to be used for storing merchandise. The city posted a notice of order and abatement at the structure on July 7, and the collapsed roof was documented by municipal officials at about the same time. Internal emails shared with the NI also show city leaders expressing concern about cracks in the building’s exterior, and crews had previously cordoned off the sidewalk in front on the store with caution tape.
Smoke from a fire on Morley Avenue clouds the 1904 Courthouse on Monday afternoon.
Photo by Angela Gervasi
As the fire burned Monday afternoon, heavy black smoke billowed northward from the fire, enveloping the Historic 1904 Courthouse. The courthouse was evacuated early on in the fire due to the smoke, Police Chief Roy Bermudez said, and nearby homes on Court Street were also evacuated as a precautionary measure.
In his statement, issued at around 11:30 p.m., Polcari said three buildings “were completely damaged,” though the value of the lost property and merchandise was unknown.
All of the affected properties appeared to be owned by the same two people.
As of 4 p.m., the smoke had cleared considerably, though a stretch of Morley Avenue remained blocked off to the public. The entire building at the corner with Court Street had been leveled, while the damage appeared severe next door at Chi's.
Polcari said the fire was controlled around 5:30 p.m., and the scene would be put on fire watch overnight.
“We still have crews sitting on it right now," Polcari said in a follow-up on Tuesday morning.
"We're going to get small fires throughout the day," he said, explaining that that was due to the nature of the fire, which he estimated burned for three or four hours on Monday. Polcari said the additional fires were somewhat normal after a long-burning blaze, and that crews would continue to monitor the area.
In all, more than 35 firefighters and command staff from NFD and the Rio Rico and Tubac fire districts were on hand to fight the fire. A crew from UniSource was also at the scene, as nearby power lines could be seen burning during the height of the fire.
There were no injuries reported as a result of the fire.
