Around 3 AM on Tuesday, the Denton Fire Department arrived in Downtown Denton to extinguish a four-alarm fire that was engulfing businesses on the East side of the Downtown Square. 

"There was a large fire, primarily centered in the Mini Mall on Locust," City of Denton Public Information Officer Jessica Rogers said. "Surrounding businesses sustained water and smoke damage."

The Downtown Mini Mall posted on Facebook this morning about their loss.

Jupiter House Coffee posted a video on their Facebook page to show some of the damage. 

"Due to some structural issues, Director of Development Services Scott McDonald was on site to assist," District 2 City Councilwoman Keely Briggs said. "Additionally, the City Street Department was providing equipment to assist Fire with bringing down the back wall of the structure so Fire crews can continue working inside the building." 

There have been no injuries reported yet. The cause of the fire is not known at this time but will be investigated once fire crews put out any hotspots inside and assess damages. 

"Locust St. and Austin St. (from Oak to Hickory) will be closed for an estimated 24 to 48 hours. Police and Streets are assisting with barricades and detours," Briggs said. "East/West traffic on Oak and Hickory is not affected. All other streets on the Square are open."

Samantha Hobson,a Downtown resident, was getting her three houseguests and boyfriend up and dressed as the Fire Department started knocking on her apartment door.

"I woke up smelling smoke, then I saw flashing lights out the windows," Hobson said. “I woke everyone up and told them to get dressed. A few minutes later a fireman was knocking on our door."

Hobson said she head from her property manager around 10:30 AM that there was potential water and smoke damage to the apartment structure, but that no fire had penetrated the walls.

"The primary fire damage was to the Mini Mall, but other surrounding businesses also sustained damages, including water and smoke damage," Briggs said. "Director of Economic Development Caroline Booth and Julie Glover were both on site to assist with communications with downtown businesses.

There is no timeline just yet on when investigations will begin, Rogers said. "At this time we haven't been inside yet."

We will update this story as news develops. 

Header image by Michael Briggs
Header image design by Sara Button