Shupe-Williams Building Destroyed By Suspicious Fire

By Robert Cato

On Saturday night March 11, 2006 at approximately 10pm a massive fire of suspicious origin consumed the historic Shupe-Williams Candy Factory Building (SWCFB) located at 26th St. and Wall Avenue. The building was built in 1905. Flames, sometimes shooting 100 feet in the air, could be seen all over the Ogden area.

According to the Ogden Fire Department, a small fire was discovered in the basement area. Residents of St. Ann’s Shelter had alerted authorities about the fire. First responders gained access to the building and searched the entire structure for any possible trespassers. By the time they completed their search the building was becoming fully engulfed by flames. The under staffed and poorly paid Ogden City Fire Department Professionals attempted to fight the fire following standard large structures fire policies. However, due to the amazingly rapid spread of the fire, it quickly became apparent that no amount of firefighters and equipment could halt the fire. Jessie Garcia, as Acting Mayor, (Godfrey is conveniently in London, England) instructed OCFD Command to do the only thing they could do, just let it burn itself out.

The Ogden City Fire Department, who Mayor Godfrey refuses to fully staff, then began to try and prevent other buildings in the area from spontaneous combustion. Un-manned fire hoses were set in strategic locations to spray water on the Laundry Building at Union Station and on business structures on the east side of wall avenue at 26th Street. Some rolling stock belonging to the Union Station Foundation stored at the back of the SWCFB was destroyed.

The fire is of suspicious origin because the building was not currently in use. Had no electrical wiring, as someone stole it all in December, and the fire spread so quickly. This was a commercial structure built at a time when fire suppression systems were rare. For a fire to have engulfed the entire building that quickly, fire enhancement materials were most likely used. I can guarantee you that His Majesty will have his road dogs spin this as a “I told you the building wasn’t safe” presentation.

Hundreds of onlookers were drawn to the fire which was visible from Layton to North Ogden. Despite the best efforts of the OCPD gridlock ensued on the surrounding streets. Reserve Officers were called out to assist in crowd control. Spectators were kept a full block away to prevent possible injuries by flying debris. As various parts of the structure collapsed great plumes of sparks and ash soared into the air. Some small brush fires in the Union Pacific Rail Yards were quickly extinguished. By 11:30 pm exterior walls began to fall into the streets and city crews with wrecking equipment began to prepare to pull the rest of the structure down as soon as it cooled enough for them to do so.

A proposal by a group of volunteers to create a museum for the Ogden - Weber County area has been trying for four months to convince the Lord High Mayor and the new city council to allow them to accept responsibility for the SWCFB. While the City Council/RDA Board members have expressed their support for that proposal, our Little King has refused to seriously consider the idea. Our short sighted leader has wanted the building torn down so he could give the land away to one of his co-whore-ts for next to nothing. He had an offer and really wanted to let a movie company burn the building to the ground in exchange for $300K. While the cameras were not visible don’t be surprised to see this fire at a move theater not near you (Larry Miller still has not signed on to the “Junk-son” deal yet).

The SWCFB which has been vacant now for a number of years. The location of the building, next to Union Station and in the immediate area of Historic 25th Street, would have been a perfect location for a museum. The SWCFB was the subject of many disputed facts about current structural problems. The Emperor of Ogden and Protector of vacant lots claimed building was not worth saving and wanted to see it torn down so the land could be used for a parking lot. In fact a structural survey done in November of 2005 by Donald Hartley, a Historical Architect with The State Of Utah Department of Community and Culture, Division of State History / Utah State Historical Society, stated that the building was structurally sound, could be restored and was of significant enough historical importance that it should have been saved. Of course Godfery’s Goons insisted it was about to collapse and wasn’t worth saving.

The SWCFB was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, although not on the "local historic register."

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Ed. Note: Councilman Bill Glasmann has graciously transmitted to us a series of photos documenting the intensity of last night's fire. They are available for viewing here.

Our regular readers will recall that Mr. Cato also authored an earlier article here, on the subject of the now moot Shupe-Williams museum conversion proposal.

Update 3/13/06 9:35 a.m MT: The Standard-Examiner has a followup piece this morning, highlighting the "laments" of the museum proponents, Ogden-Weber Museum Inc.

And this Std-Ex companion story reports on the fire's aftermath, and fills in telling details of the events just prior to the conflagration:

Ogden police had responded to a call of suspicious activity at the building about 40 minutes before the fire, Owens said.

Tarran said Ogden police met an Ogden City property maintenance manager at the building because an alarm had sounded in the building.

He said officers and the city employee walked around the building and checked that all entrances were secure.

If all the locks were secure and there were no signs of forced entry 40 minutes before the second alarm, this would seemingly reduce the likelihood that the fire was a result of a transient break-in.

The plot sickens.

Comments, gentle readers?