HAMILTON, Ohio – Crews were seen demolishing the old paper company on N streets. 5th and Dayton in Hamilton on Wednesday night after a fire broke out in the now-empty building.
Flames and black smoke can be seen billowing from all four floors of the building, which was once an office for Beckett Paper and later Mohawk Paper.
“I just came out of frames and I saw a big cloud of smoke on the road and I wondered: what is this?So I drove through Hamilton and the next thing I know, when I walk through my driveway, it’s literally like I’m in my backyard,” said Michael Barrett, a Hamilton resident.
RELATED | Photos capture the war over the main chimney in Hamilton’s former paper corporate building
City officials said the first fire call came around 4:30 p. m. and after a few minutes the entire construction was engulfed in flames.
“And after five minutes, in 10 minutes thick black smoke and fires came out on four sides. So the building was totally destroyed and very quickly,” said City Manager Craig Bucheit.
From 7 p. m. On Wednesday, the government said they did not yet know the cause of the fire, but were investigating possible involvement of criminals. Bucheit said the building was empty and had no utilities. A spokesman for the city of Hamilton said Thursday that for this reason the fire is being investigated as suspicious at this time, but the government will not know the true cause until everything is clarified. it will not be resolved.
Our previous report on construction shows that city leaders announced a $50 million development in May 2022 that will give the building a new use.
City officials told WCPO that this construction is not officially part of the project and would likely have been demolished someday. It is unclear to what extent this will replace progression plans.
RELATED | ‘It’s the best placement’: Hamilton’s leaders announce a progression of more than 300 million dollars against Spooky Nook
Hamilton’s director of public safety, Scott Scrimizzi, said exercise tracks passing through the construction were closed until the construction collapsed, either by itself or by a demolition company. Our team saw several exercises go by on the tracks around 8:30 p. m.
Scrimizzi said the city will send an emergency demolition crew and hopes to destroy it within the next 12 hours.
Residents and the municipal government said they were saddened by the overall loss of the former paper corporate building, calling it an iconic landmark of the city.
“Honestly, it’s a little sad, because more and more Hamilton stories are slowly and slowly disappearing,” Barrett said.
“He’s been the namesake of this city for centuries and hired thousands and thousands of our residents. He helped make Hamilton what it is,” said board member Michael Ryan.