Officials are investigating what started a fire that raged for hours, causing power outages throughout the city of Athens and significant damage to five buildings on Union Street.
There were no serious injuries, but three firefighters and one police officer were taken to OhioHealth O'Bleness Memorial Hospital earlier today, according to a city news release. Three of the four residents of affected apartments who were transported to O'Bleness earlier today were treated and released, according to Stephanie Filson, an Ohio University spokeswoman.
Read The Post's breaking news coverage of the fire
A call was placed to the Athens Fire Department just after 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, and affected buildings were evacuated within an hour. Six fire trucks were on the scene, including fire officials from Athens, Nelsonville and The Plains.
Those who want to help students displaced from their homes can drop off donations near the front desk on the fourth floor of Baker University Center or donate money by selecting the OHIO Parents & Family Fund at ohio.edu/give. That fund provides emergency finances to students. OU transported the affected students to the Baymont Inn and Holiday Inn hotels. It wasn’t immediately clear who will be paying for the hotel rooms.
View an interactive graphic that shows the fire damage
OU President Roderick McDavis issued a statement at 2:13 p.m. about the fire. He said that he will be attending the 4 p.m. meeting held in the Baker Ballroom for students affected by the fire.
He also said that the university's building at 31 S. Court St. was not damaged by the fire.
"The fire is under control while firefighters continue to extinguish hot spots," McDavis said.
Watch a video about OU's efforts to help affected students
Here’s a breakdown of the damaged buildings, which were all seemingly built in 1900, according to city auditor records, and reactions from most business’ owners:
Jackie O's Pub & Brewery
24 W. Union St.
Jackie O’s won’t be making food for “a long while,” said Art Oestrike, owner of the pub and brewery.
Fire damage to the public house portion of Jackie O's was minimal, but the property suffered an unknown amount of water damage.
Jackie O's kitchen and electric panel are largely housed in The Union Bar & Grill side of the building. Because The Union had extensive damage, the brew side of Jackie O's will continue to serve drinks but not food.
Jackie O's makes bread for several business around Athens, including Union Street Diner.
"We're back to 2009," Oestrike said, referring to the time before Jackie O's expanded into the public house.
Oestrike said he was at Jackie O's' Stimson Street brewing location at approximately 5:30 a.m. when he saw the flames rising from the Uptown area.
The Union Bar & Grill
18 W. Union St.
The Union lost its roof in the fire.
As the sun rose, firefighters focused a good portion of their efforts on trying to cool down The Union, which still appeared to have flames shooting from the rear of the building after most of fires on the street seemed to be otherwise controlled.
At one point in the early morning, officials propped open the door to The Union using a barstool, and water was flowing down the stairs that lead to the upper floor of the bar onto Union Street.
“I just got a call like 20 minutes ago, saying, 'Hey your building's on fire,' " said Alex Couladis, part-owner of the property that includes The Union and Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery, at approximately 9 a.m.
His family has owned the properties since the 1950s, and his father was one of the original owners of The Union. Auditor records show that the buildings were built in 1900.
Couladis said he had never seen this sort of damage to one of his family's properties.
The Union was renovated in 2011, said Brandon “DJ B-Funk” Thompson — a local performer who has had shows there for the past five years.
An unsigned Facebook post on The Union’s page reads: “To the Union extended family, I'm sad to report that early this morning a fire started on our block of Union street. Though firefighters made heroic efforts to contain the blaze, it quickly spread down the street to us. I currently don't know the full extent of the damage but it is very extensive. Thankfully no one was injured, but The Union as we knew it is no more. I truly appreciate all the offers of help and warm sentiments. The Union was a second home to so many of us (including myself), it makes my heart ache. As I know more I will try to keep this page updated. Hopefully the place will have a good phoenix story coming soon."
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Kismet
16 W. Union St.
Kismet’s interior shows extensive damage.
Smoke Zone Smoke Shop
14 W. Union St.
John Roman, a Smoke Zone employee, was supposed to open the shop this morning but ended up calling his boss around 10:15 a.m. to tell him what was happening.
“I saw on Twitter that Court Street was on fire,” Roman said.
Jack Neal Floral
12 W. Union St.
Some eyewitnesses said that the fire originated from Jack Neal Floral.
Alison Stewart, a senior studying special education who lives above Jack Neal Floral, said she was woken at about 3:30 a.m. by a friend who said a fire started in the house next door.
Stewart grabbed her computer and left the apartment.
"Everybody was upset, and a couple people were crying," Stewart said. "It's mostly the fact they don't have anything and they couldn't go back."
Two residents who also live above Jack Neal Floral said they were woken by pounding on their door at about 4:30 a.m.
“I thought someone was breaking in,” said Deanna Schaeffer, a senior studying communication.
Schaeffer left the building with her roommate and neighbors, who had woken them up.
Schaeffer said she and her roommate, Kylie Gyurgyak, a senior studying media management, sat across the street for about 45 minutes, but there was just smoke to see.
“Then all of a sudden there were about 40 foot flames,” Schaeffer said.
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