An early morning fire broke out inside the Downtown MIni Mall on the east side of the historic square. Businesses on either side and apartments around the building had water and smoke damage.
A message from Glen Farris, President of Denton Main Street Association:
"Yesterday, Denton woke to unimaginable devastation and news that a four-alarm fire was in progress in a building on the east side of the historic downtown square. This appears to be the greatest loss of property in our beloved downtown in 23 years. The pictures of the building on fire were awful and my heart, like yours, broke.
Fortunately, no one was hurt in the fire and we are thankful to the surrounding fire departments from Lewisville, Fort Worth, Aubrey, Krum, Lake cities and others who came to Denton’s aid and contained this beast before it got worse.
What we know now is that the roof and interior of the main building of the Downtown Mini Mall were destroyed, and surrounding buildings also sustained significant smoke and water damage. Eight apartment units have been damaged and are uninhabitable due to the smoke and water damage. The firewalls between the buildings saved lives and possibly the destruction of the entire East side of the square. It goes without saying how thankful we are that there wasn’t a loss of life or injury.
This is what I know about Denton: We are resilient, we care for our own and are always punching above our weight.
The clean-up effort will continue today for these businesses. We will need to rally around all of them in the coming days and weeks. There will be every effort made to find out how best to help them recover and Denton Main Street Association will keep you informed. In the meantime, our thoughts go out to these business owners.
The Downtown Mini Mall holds a special place in many people’s memories, especially those who recalled times walking through the vintage items or who found some hidden treasure during a visit to downtown Denton. We are thankful to still have the Downtown Mini Mall II still intact and we will keep you posted on the re-opening of all the businesses that were affected and how you can help them recover.
We look forward to seeing you in downtown Denton and thank you for supporting local businesses downtown, as they are the reason it’s here.
Sincerely,
Glen Farris
President, Denton Main Street Association