North Bend seeks to rise from ashes

NORTH BEND, Neb. — Twenty-five percent of the Main Street businesses here were destroyed or damaged in the accidental fire that raced through the downtown.

“The fire was very devastating to the community and to many families. It's not good,'' Mayor Jeff Kluthe said Tuesday.

Kluthe said his top priority is to see how quickly some or all of the burned-out operations can be relocated and get back in business in the community of 1,200 west of Fremont.

The fire Monday destroyed four buildings.

They housed A Little Off the Top beauty salon; the North Bend Eagle weekly newspaper; Beyond Body Work massage establishment; L.A. Tanning; the Pour House bar and an apartment above.

A brick structure housing Emanuel Custom Welding sustained heavy smoke and water damage.

There were no injuries.

Lori Bunn, who operated the tanning business, watched the fire grow, spread and die over nearly an eight-hour period.

“It was like a fire-breathing dragon,'' she said. “It wouldn't give up. It just kept blowing.''

Greg Kugler, who lived in the apartment, had time to save only one thing — his grandfather's retirement badge from the Fremont Fire Department.

No cost estimate of damages was immediately available, authorities said.

Kluthe said the newspaper, salon and tanning businesses could be the easiest to place in some of the town's vacant buildings.

How quickly relocations are achieved depends on insurance settlements and renovating available buildings, he said.

“There are no answers now,'' he said. “We'll just have to see where we go.''

City officials have been in contact with State Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont about finding funds to help the rebuilding process.

Bunn hopes to reopen her tanning business. She started it in March, sharing a building with the massage establishment.

“We had some insurance. Not a lot. We'll try to make it work,'' she said. “We enjoyed what we did.''

Diane Emanuel, who works with her husband, Roch, at the welding business, said the gutted buildings represent a big piece of North Bend's business.

“You hate to see it not there,'' she said.

Diane Emanuel saw what she thought was snow drifting her office window. It turned out to be smoke.

“We had time to get everything out of the office. We were very lucky,'' she said.

The fire started in the salon, said Jim Heine, assistant state fire marshal in Lincoln. He said it was caused by an electrical fault, probably in recessed lighting in the ceiling.

Two deputy fire marshals investigated the blaze.

Shanon Morris, chief of North Bend's volunteer fire department, said the attic of the salon was “heavily involved'' with flames when firefighters arrived shortly after receiving a call about 2:30 p.m. The salon was closed for the day.

By the time Morris' crew returned to their headquarters shortly before midnight, volunteers from 14 fire departments had responded to North Bend's request for help.

Morris said the salon, newspaper and massage establishments shared a common roof, which helped the fire spread.

“Once you see the roofs start to collapse, you can't send anybody in. It became an outside battle,'' he said.

Firefighters eventually brought in a tractor with a backhoe to tear off the fronts of the bar, newspaper and massage establishment for clear access to the flames.

Firefighters were called back to the scene early Tuesday to douse hot spots.

An account has been set up at Platte Valley Bank in North Bend for Kugler, whose apartment was destroyed.

Donations may be left at the bank or mailed to Platte Valley Bank, P.O. Box 500, North Bend, NE 68649.

Contact the writer:

444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com

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