Officials investigating the fire at the historic former Elks building in downtown Dickinson are waiting for water to be pumped out of the basement.
The massive blaze that involved portions of all three stories of the structure Monday night required thousands of gallons of water to get under control. The Dickinson Volunteer Fire Department and the Dickinson Rural Volunteer Fire Department stopped putting wire on the fire shortly after midnight Monday.
A deputy state fire marshal came on the scene Monday evening and is staying through Wednesday to help with the investigation, Dickinson Fire Chief Bob Sivac said Tuesday afternoon.
A combined 52 firefighters and 12 trucks surrounded the historic structure on the corner of First Street West and First Avenue West in downtown Dickinson. Efforts to gut the building were recently completed and renovation work had just started in the basement, building owner Granville "Beaver" Brinkman said Tuesday afternoon.
The city used grant funding and other dollars to rid the building of lead-based paint and other environmental hazards so it could be rehabilitated. Once the United States Environmental Protection Agency signed off on the city's clean-up effort, the city then sold the building to Brinkman.
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For more on what's next with the historic downtown Elks building, see Wednesday's issue of The Dickinson Press.
