Jackson firefighters were called to the scene of a massive fire downtown Tuesday, June 1, around 6:30 p.m. The fire quickly spread to involve three other buildings.
Jitney Jungle Wholesale Produce, Bolden Body Shop and the old Web South Printing that now houses Recycled Solutions (a paper and pallet company) are the buildings affected by this fire. Of the three buildings, Bolden Body Shop is the only one not completely destroyed.
Artis Bolden, owner of Bolden Body Shop, has been in business in the Farish Street Entertainment District since 1988 and for the first time has more questions than he does answers.
“I’m confused by this, this is my first time experiencing anything like this,” Bolden said. “It is imperative that investigators handle this properly to ensure everyone and every business is ok.”
Bolden estimated based on early projections that his business suffered between $600-$700 thousand worth of damage. “I’ve counted several (7-8) cars in my garage that were completely destroyed, one of my buildings is damaged beyond repair and another one we have yet to assess the damage,” he shared. “We are still going through everything.”
Bolden is concerned that the fire wasn’t started by lighting. “Based on what I know, had lighting struck these lines, and my building, I would not have any power right now, but I do,” he shared. “To me it seems as if something else is going on here, just based on these surroundings.”
That ‘something else’ could take awhile to figure out.
Chief Fire Investigator Gregory Travis told The Mississippi Link it could take days or weeks or even months before they know what really happened. “This is a massive fire and although after 17 hours it is contained, smoke pockets are still happening and it is impossible to make a determination within a day or two,” Travis said. “We’ve got to comb through all of this stuff [debris, metal, concrete and more] and make a full assessment, and we can’t do it while it is hot.”
Bolden is concerned that he wasn’t allowed on his property to begin moving cars after he was alerted shortly before 7 p.m. that a fire had ensued. He maintains that the owner of the pallet company was able to move pass security and the roadblocks. “I was turned around and not allowed on the scene and I just don’t understand that and my neighbor was able to not only get on his property but to bring storage material and other items,” Bolden said. “To me this speaks volumes as to what is really going on.”
Efforts to reach the owner of the pallet company were not successful.
Travis said no one should jump to conclusions and make unnecessary assumptions. “The public needs to understand that we are doing our job and doing it very well. We will uncover every piece of material and get to the bottom of what happened. This is a very tedious job,” Travis shared.
Investigator Scott Peacock was on the scene and offered areas that will be looked into. “There are three ways this fire could have started: natural, man made or accidental and we will get to the bottom of this,” Peacock shared. “This is like forensic science, everything is not as it appears on the surface.”
Peacock said his unit is the only entity in the city of Jackson that follows the accident through out its duration. “We are on the scene around the clock, every step of the way we are there. No stone is left unturned,” Peacock said.
Bolden is counting on that type of investigation.
“If it isn’t handled properly and labeled the correct way, this fire which wasn’t caused by me, could ultimately end up costing me a ton of money,” he said.
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