Main Street block ‘thriving’ 2 years after fire
Seeing firefighters use axes to chop through windows on the top floors of the buildings on the 200 block of Butler’s South Main Street had Krista Washkau worried that Jan. 30, 2021, was the last time she would see the inside of her workplace.
While the Edward Jones office on the block wasn’t a victim of the flames in the biggest fire to strike the city that year, Washkau said the office took “tons of water and smoke damage,” which would make it uninhabitable.
Despite the shock experienced by the Butler community that Saturday morning, there was a glimmer of hope brought about by the rest of the downtown business community.
“I was heartbroken because I thought we were going to lose our second home,” said Washkau, who is also secretary of Butler Downtown. “What was really amazing to us is the fire happened Saturday morning, and by that afternoon we had four or five offers from people downtown with office space.
