Galaxy Comics, Big Garlic damaged in Tuesday fire

The Metro Wire first broke this scene at 6:45 a.m. on Sept. 26.

By Brandi Makuski

Two local businesses were damaged in a Tuesday morning fire.

Fire departments from Stevens Point, Plover, and Hull were first dispatched at 6:30 a.m. when a caller reported smoke at 929 Clark St. in downtown Stevens Point on Sept. 26. Units from Stockton and Rudolph were also called to the scene after SPFD Chief Jb Moody called for a MABAS box alarm.

The Metro Fire team, comprised of crews from Stevens Point, Plover, and Hull, is the standard response anytime smoke or flames are reported in a structure.

MABAS stands for Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. It’s an extension of Metro Fire; a cooperative response system that helps dispatchers know which pre-determined combination of fire, EMS, law enforcement, and other agencies to send to an emergency scene.

City police were first on the scene and confirmed heavy smoke inside the building, but said residents of apartment units on the second floor of the building had either already evacuated or weren’t home.

After extensive searches of the building, Battalion Chief Jared Hopfensperger from SPFD said a fire was found in a dryer and was contained mostly in The Big Garlic restaurant. Every part of the building had been filled with smoke, and the damage was largely smoke-related, he said.

Stevens Point police shut down the 900 block of Clark St. to traffic, also rendering aid and comfort to some of the tenants, who watched from across the street.

Tenants of the building are being assisted by the American Red Cross but would likely be able to return home at some point, Hopfensperger said, adding there were no injuries. The Portage Co. Ambulance Service also responded as a precaution.

Hopfensperger said crews would be on the scene “for a while” on Tuesday to investigate the cause of the fire.