Tomato On Fire

[UNT_92_Fan]

Last night around 11ish I got a phone call that all the lights were out in the bar i work at and the Tomato was engulfed in flames. The video a friend took isn't on Youtube ytet but keep your eyes open.

According to the police officers, it was set purposely.... someone thought they would take it down before it was demolished tomorrow....

I would say over 300+ were out there watching history go up in smoke...it was kinda surreal....

[UNT_92_Fan]

WwtEw6oR31U

My Friends Video is ALOT better this is just the only one on Youtube I will post the other one as soon as she uploads it

Edited June 28, 2007 by UNT_92_Fan

[UNT_92_Fan]

Tomato torched ahead of demolition

02:58 AM CDT on Thursday, June 28, 2007

By DONNA FIELDER and SARAH CHACKO / Denton Record-Chronicle

dfielder@dentonrc.com; schacko@dentonrc.com

DENTON – Before the wrecking crew could push down the walls of The Tomato, the Fry Street icon died by fire Wednesday night at the hands of men seen running from the building just before flames burst out from the windows.

GARY PAYNE/Denton Record-Chronicle

Denton firefighters work Wednesday night to contain a fire that destroyed the former location of The Tomato pizza parlor on Fry Street. The building and several others nearby were scheduled for demolition to make way for a controversial new retail development, but officials fear that the blaze might have damaged some buildings that will remain.

While hundreds of young people milled behind yellow crime scene tape in the rain watching and recording the scene with everything from professional cameras to cellphones, University of North Texas and Denton police detained three young men at the scene but later released them after intensive questioning.

By 12:30 a.m. an amateur video was already posted on YouTube.

Denton Fire Marshal Rick Jones called the three young men “persons of interest” in what he said was definitely an arson fire. Witnesses pointed them out as the men who ran from the building.

“We know where to find them,” Jones said. “We found some evidence that leads us to believe they were involved, but we didn’t have enough evidence tonight to hold them.”

Police saw flames shooting from the roof amid a heavy smoke cloud about 11 p.m. and called for the fire department. Battalion Chief Cort Higgins said the building was fully in flames when firefighters arrived.

“The building was going down anyway,” Higgins said. “But we were worried about extension to some of the adjoining buildings that are going to remain, and we had power lines down and burning.”

There also was danger of sparks from the high flames jumping the street and spreading the damage across Fry Street to the buildings there, he said.

Power lines fell on a car parked in front of the building, and the resulting fire destroyed it.

Higgins did not believe early Thursday that there was damage to viable buildings.

An announcement last year that United Equities Inc. had bought most of the city block that contained such college hangouts as The Tomato and Mr. Chopsticks caused an uproar that continued this week as preparation began to bulldoze The Tomato and other buildings.

United Equities plans to build a modern business and restaurant center there, but representatives have promised it will retain some of the spirit of the old buildings.

Concerned residents formed Save Fry Street, a grassroots organization, to try to preserve the 1920s-era buildings, but failed to stop the demolition.

At 1 a.m. Higgins said the shell of the building that remained was unstable and too dangerous to leave standing. He was working to get a bulldozer into the area to knock down the walls as soon as possible, he said. He wanted the walls down before morning Thursday.

Jones said investigators would work into the night investigating the cause of the fire and finding the spot where it began. He planned to ask for help from the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he said.

“We’re not going to be solving this or making arrests tonight,”

he said. “It’s going to be a long, drawn-out process.”

Students and bystanders watched emergency personnel quell the fire from a safe distance marked out with yellow tape and enforced by police. Some were drawn out of the local bars and neighboring University of North Texas buildings. Others said they and people around them were receiving phone calls and text messages about the fire within minutes of the flames starting to show.

Many bystanders said that with all the controversy surrounding the Fry Street redevelopment, they were not surprised by the act.

UNT junior Al-Dana Aldana said it may have been a little anticlimactic considering the buildings were going to be demolished anyway, but it was a way to send the historic buildings off with a bang.

"The most they accomplished was getting people's attention one last time before Fry Street is gone," he said.

Organizers of Save Fry Street said there wasn't enough protection around The Tomato in the first place.

"It hasn't been a barrier at all," said Chris Flemmons, a Save Fry Street organizer. "Police have told kids to get out of there."

"You knew someone was going to get hurt or something," said Martin Iles, another supporter. "It was coming to a head."

Both Flemmons and Iles said the arson was a disservice to everyone involved.

"It's just more negative chaos associated with a corner which has already received negative attention," Iles said.

UNT sophomore Abbey Muzzy said the fire wasn't the smartest way to protest, but it was someone's way of sending a message.

"Everyone's so pissed about everything being torn down," she said.

"It's poetic."

Texas Woman's University senior Brandy Gilbeaux, who has lived in Denton her entire life, said it's always sad to see something historic go, but she's interested to see if what developers put in its place will be worth what was taken down.

Even with the impending demolition, Gilbeaux said she was happy to see the Tomato go in a fire, rather than just being torn down.

"It made a statement for what it was," she said. "It showed that it meant something to the people here."

[untbowler]

some the quotes make me sick. I am so tired of College Towns being so afraid of change. Denton, Huntsville, Conway are no different. They are so scared of progress it is pathetic.

[GreenBat]

UNT sophomore Abbey Muzzy said the fire wasn't the smartest way to protest, but it was someone's way of sending a message.

"Everyone's so pissed about everything being torn down," she said.

"It's poetic."

Is this Zack's sister?

[Cr1028]

Is this Zack's sister?

yes

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Just a stupid waste of money that the City of Denton had to spend last night with their crews to put out a building that was coming down today. So sad that people have nothing else better to funnel their time through.

[JayDub]

UNT junior Al-Dana Aldana said...

Approves...

[meangreendork]

No matter what you think about the Fry Street buyout, arson wasn't the way to handle this. I liked the Tomato as much as everyone else did, but to torch it was stupid, disrespectful, and a major waste of taxpayer cash.

[FirefightnRick]

Go Rick Jones Go! Somone will go to jail for this hopefully. It just won't be for long enough unfortunately. Morons! Kind of tells you who they have been dealing with all this time doesn't it?

Rick

[meangreendork]

Go Rick Jones Go! Somone will go to jail for this hopefully. It just won't be for long enough unfortunately. Morons! Kind of tells you who they have been dealing with all this time doesn't it?

Rick

I don't think everyone trying to save the old Fry Street was associated with these jokers.