Alexander's and Wright's Hardware Building

From Lane Co Oregon

Today...there's a parking lot for the library and city hall where Alexander's and Wright's used to be. At the time of the fire, the Emporium was using the building as an office and goods receiving center -- not retail. The five-alarm fire started in the early hours on Saturday, March 5. Flames shot up 80 to 100 feet in the air and took almost three hours to bring under control. Nearly 70 firemen and 14 fire trucks fought the blaze, including three trucks from the Eugene Fire Dept. Estimated damage to the nearly block-long structure was $760,000. The east part of the building was owned by Mrs. Alexander (she had remarried and moved to California).

(Alexander's became the Emporium in 1972. In early 1975 the Emporium moved into the Springfield Mall on Olympic Street.)

Other businesses that received scorched walls, heat cracked windows and some minor smoke and water damage included Burleson's Floor Covering, Gerlach's Drug Store and Chuck Rickey Jewelers. In the alley behind the buildings, flames shot out of burned out doorways and cinders and ashes drifted over to a roof of Spring Village. A fireman stationed on the roof directed his hose toward the fire and managed to keep it from reaching the shopping center.