Fire destroys historic Colfax building

An historic Colfax building was lost to fire Tuesday, as the Main Street home of Mitz’s Cabinets, owned by Craig Mitzimberg, was completely destroyed by a blaze that broke out around 12:15 p.m.

Smoke poured out of the building well into the nighttime hours, as crews from eight firefighting agencies battled the stubborn fire. Trucks were still on scene after 10 p.m. Tuesday, and Colfax crews watched for flare-ups throughout the night.

No one was injured in the fire.

Mitzimberg was on business in Pullman when the blaze broke out. He returned soon after learning the shop was on fire and was able to retrieve his computer from the shop’s business office.

“No one was hurt, that’s the important thing,” said Mitzimberg, who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of wood cutting equipment to the fire.

The building was estimated at 60 to 70 years old. Mitzimberg reported the building was insured.

Colfax Fire Chief Ralph Walter said cause of the fire was still being investigated Wednesday morning.

Along with the city fire squad, members of the Colfax, Steptoe, Albion and Diamond rural departments immediately responded to the scene. Shortly after 4 p.m., Walter called in the Pullman rural fire district, and Pullman’s municipal department responded with a ladder truck to douse the burn.

Walter said the fire was likely fueled by stocked lumber inside the building used to make cabinets.

Rural Chief Jim Krouse explained the roof had a four-inch layer of a sawdust insulation that kept the burn smoldering and hampered firefighting efforts.

The roof of the building collapsed shortly after 5 p.m.

Fire crews demolished a loft in the center of the roof to pull the flames and smoke out of the building’s interior.

Main Street traffic had to be re-routed along Mill Street between North Street and Harrison Street during the fight. The detour, which included a tricky turn for drivers of semi-trailers, clogged traffic through town all afternoon.

One truck jacknifed after making the turn onto North Street, clogging the detour route until eventually being towed away by a Colfax Body Repair truck.

The firefighters were able to keep the fire contained to Mitz’s shop. The neighboring Dreamworks building was evacuated early in the fight. Smoke and water from the fight did enter the Dreamworks building, which is separated from Mitz’s building by a cinder block fire wall.

The fire was primarily contained to the north and east sides of the building early in the fight.

Firefighters worked to keep the blaze from spreading to a paint room in the southwest corner of the building. Their fear was the fire would ignite the paint and cause an explosion.

The iconic shop sign, featuring Mitzimberg’s image, survived extensive damage.