Fry Street: Set On Fire By Students

UNT_playmaker · June 28, 2007

Wow could not believe what I saw when I drove by the other side of campus late tonight. Me and a friend saw a swarm of police cars and thought, gee someone got shot on fry st. again and came across a crowd of onlookers, ambulances, and ladder fire trucks that spewed water from above. From what I heard from onlookers was that there was a large crowd of people by the tomato earlier tonight and someone from that crowd, set the building on fire. It looked as if a explosion happened as the buildings were completely destroyed.

From what I heard, the blaze started at 10pm and I left at 2am and the blaze was still going on but not at the capacity it was at an earlier time. All of Fry st was shut down as well as Hickory, Oak, Ave.A. All the bars were shut down and patrons were in the streets as all the power into that area was gone, the result of wires being melted from the fire. When I left there were electric crews working at the scene but it was still a big mess

Earlier this week there was protests by students......

Pretty crazy stuff going down in the fry street area....

Fry street is going downhill big time.....

meangreendork · June 28, 2007

I heard about the protests, but if this fire has something to do with that, it's not the right way to protest the situation at all. I don't even think I'd protest a civil rights issue with arson (until it got to a really bad place) much less something like this.

If people want the shops and restaurants from Fry Street saved, they should donate or something more constructive

UNT_92_Fan · June 28, 2007

Tavern tried to stay open but everyone flooded in and without power it wasn't happening... talking with the police sounds like someone went old school and got ahold of a Moltov Cocktail and lit that thing up... It was coming down tomorrow so the building being destroyed ( which it really wasn't destroyed...just burnt up,the shell is still there) isnt that big of a thing. The fact that someone that WILL be caught is stupid enough to do this the night before the scheduled demise baffles me... Arson is a helllllllluva a jail sentence... people saw it... the dude is getting caught and will serve some MAD time in Jail for this eff up....

Anyone else that witnessed it think it was pretty surreal. There were TONS of people watching history burn down. I also feel bad for whoever parked their new car in front of the tomato...that car was rather effed up.

VIDEO POSTED IN NON-UNT SPORTS.... I figured thats where this topic should be

Edited June 28, 2007 by UNT_92_Fan

meangreendork · June 28, 2007

They better thank God that other businesses in the area didn't also catch fire. It'd be more stupid than it already is if businesses still running were damaged or even destroyed by this.

UNT_92_Fan · June 28, 2007

also i wouldnt be so sure it was students of UNT that started it....

if it were the same group protesting this week i guarantee they were not UNT students... too young

meangreendork · June 28, 2007

Hmm...that'd be weird then. I wouldn't think they'd have much appreciation for the area.

Not that they've shown it with this.

chrisfisher · June 28, 2007

Tavern tried to stay open but everyone flooded in and without power it wasn't happening... talking with the police sounds like someone went old school and got ahold of a Moltov Cocktail and lit that thing up... It was coming down tomorrow so the building being destroyed ( which it really wasn't destroyed...just burnt up,the shell is still there) isnt that big of a thing. The fact that someone that WILL be caught is stupid enough to do this the night before the scheduled demise baffles me... Arson is a helllllllluva a jail sentence... people saw it... the dude is getting caught and will serve some MAD time in Jail for this eff up....
Anyone else that witnessed it think it was pretty surreal. There were TONS of people watching history burn down. I also feel bad for whoever parked their new car in front of the tomato...that car was rather effed up.
VIDEO POSTED IN NON-UNT SPORTS.... I figured thats where this topic should be

How did they know that there was not anyone in the building? The owner or someone could have been in there collecting last minute momentous. This was an act of stupidness.

GreenTiger_OriginalAcct · June 28, 2007

This fire caused a great deal of damage to electrical and communication infrastructure. Internet service is sketchy in quite a few places in Denton. Based on some conversation I heard this morning, there are more than a few people blaming it on students. Worst comment I heard: "With all of the problems they are having around there, sounds like it may have been a good idea to tear that area down and rebuild it." At this point based on the actions of some, it is hard to disagree.

bandgeek · June 28, 2007

I just found this on youtube... that was one helluva fire.

UNT_playmaker · June 28, 2007

They still dont know who did it, I heard from others who talked to police that they suspected students.

So dont know how true that it is. My bet is TAMS students.....

Edited June 28, 2007 by UNT_playmaker

emmitt01 · June 28, 2007

Hmm...that'd be weird then. I wouldn't think they'd have much appreciation for the area.
Not that they've shown it with this.

I'd almost guarantee it wasn't students. It was never students who made Fry street less appealing, it was the high schoolers (or high school dropouts) who came there to sit on the front steps of the tomato and be generally worthless. The hippy/punk crowd that somehow ended up on Fry street 30 years too late.

NTPhiKap99 · June 28, 2007

My bet is TAMS students.....

It makes since they'll never get to enjoy Fry Stret the way we remember it. That would piss anyone off.

Travis · June 28, 2007

I'd almost guarantee it wasn't students. It was never students who made Fry street less appealing, it was the high schoolers (or high school dropouts) who came there to sit on the front steps of the tomato and be generally worthless. The hippy/punk crowd that somehow ended up on Fry street 30 years too late.

Preach on brother Emmitt. preach on.

VideoEagle · June 28, 2007

I heard a news report that police stopped "three men" who were seen running from the building shortly after the fire started. They were not arrested, but the arson experts had not gathered evidence yet either.

I'm confused by the logic of burning down a building to keep it from being torn down. :blink:

mrsgreengoblin · June 28, 2007

Is this the second fire on Fry St. this week? I want to say that yesterday morning I was listening to the news or maybe the day before and another building on Fry caught fire. They were talking about several murals being destroyed that were going to be sold and the profits were going towards Habitat for Humanity. They mentioned that they were trying to see if they could salvage any.

UNT_92_Fan · June 28, 2007

THank you Emmitt...I am glad you knew who I was talking about when Is aid it was NOT UNT students

SAGreenFan · June 28, 2007

I just doesn't make sense that it would be students. And TAMS isnt even in session. Yes there was a big move to save Fry Street, and some of the participants were students, but once all the businesses closed the movemnet was pretty much over.

I agree that it was the "displaced" neo punk/goth high school fry street rats :angry: . No business lets them near the door anymore, and I remember the Tomato kicking them out more than a few times, but they never were asked to leave the front of the building. Now with the demolition, the little brats have no where to hang and be "misunderstood".

No one who would want to save fry street would set it on fire. And no student who loves Fry Street for the ambiance (bars) and activities (bars/food) would risk losing that (...bars).

Anyway, it some how knocked my power out and I live about a mile away.

Edited June 28, 2007 by SAGreenFan

meangreendork · June 28, 2007

The Tomato, as much I really loved eating there wasn't such a huge deal that it had to go down in a funeral pyre. Yeah, I had some great memories there, but the area being renovated isn't like the government taking away my right to own guns or speak as I please or something else that would warrant forceful disobedience or violent protest. This was stupid. Incredibly and utterly stupid. If it was those high schoolers who did this, then the ones caught have just about ruined their lives. They've also destroyed an area that has memories that've been around longer than they have. If it was UNT students, then that's a terrible disrespect to Becky and Ski as well as any UNT student (former or current) who really liked the Tomato.

Makes my blood boil at how needless this was.

UNTLifer · June 28, 2007

Is this the second fire on Fry St. this week? I want to say that yesterday morning I was listening to the news or maybe the day before and another building on Fry caught fire. They were talking about several murals being destroyed that were going to be sold and the profits were going towards Habitat for Humanity. They mentioned that they were trying to see if they could salvage any.

Not A Fire, but Vandalism

UNTLifer · June 28, 2007

Bunch of morons running around down there that don't have a thing to do with North Texas.

Edited June 28, 2007 by UNTLifer

FireFightnJoey · June 28, 2007

Tavern tried to stay open but everyone flooded in and without power it wasn't happening... talking with the police sounds like someone went old school and got ahold of a Moltov Cocktail and lit that thing up... It was coming down tomorrow so the building being destroyed ( which it really wasn't destroyed...just burnt up,the shell is still there) isnt that big of a thing. The fact that someone that WILL be caught is stupid enough to do this the night before the scheduled demise baffles me... Arson is a helllllllluva a jail sentence... people saw it... the dude is getting caught and will serve some MAD time in Jail for this eff up....
Anyone else that witnessed it think it was pretty surreal. There were TONS of people watching history burn down. I also feel bad for whoever parked their new car in front of the tomato...that car was rather effed up.
VIDEO POSTED IN NON-UNT SPORTS.... I figured thats where this topic should be

:angry:

Where do I start?! Everyone should be pi$$ed if this was an act of arson. Nothing poetic or symbolic about it. Arson not only inflicts structure/dollar damage to adjacent structures, etc. (Car), but it places many lives in danger. Who knew who was inside that building or an adjacent building? What about bystanders and all the down power lines? And the one no one ever considers, the lives of the firefighters who are at risk to contain the fire and remove the threat? If a firefighter or emergency worker is injured during the course of a fire started by arson, the criminal is responsible and the charges just got real bad, as in murder. I don't know what the exact charge is offhand, but that is the jest of it. Apparently the fire was reported by a police officer driving by according to the news story after the fire had progressed to the point that flames were visible outside the structure.

Looking at the video, I doubt this started from a molitov cocktail. It looks like all the flames were within the structure walls. Unless they threw the coctail inside, it would have ignited the outside of the structure wall and burned outside - in. But in the video, the outer walls are still standing. But, the fire happens the night before it is to be demolished and probably empty. Yea, arson. Doesn't get more suspicious than that! I'm sure some type of excellerant was most likely used. That was one helluva fire. I'm glad no one was hurt. On a fire like that, we would go defensive and contain the fire. But we would still make an aggressive attack in areas trying to protect the adjacent exposures.

FirefightnRick · June 28, 2007

Fry street is going downhill big time.....

It has been for years, too many years and thankfully, finally someone is doing something about it. I look forward to the new cleaner look across the street from our campus.

Rick