DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) – Various community organizations and institutions in De Pere are stepping up to the plate after a devastating fire still has a number of small business owners reeling.
Lynn Pierner is just one of the many that were impacted by Wednesday’s overnight blaze.
“It was just a beautiful part of De Pere and now it’s gone,” says Pernier, a gallery owner.
She ran an art studio in the basement of the building along with her friends and they’ve been personally painting in that space weekly going back ten years
“We’re all disappointed and we’re sad that it happened and happy that no one got hurt,” explains Pierner. “When we heard the news we were all in shock.”
In fact, it hasn’t entirely sunk in for her yet.
“I think it’s going to hit home when we say, oh let’s go meet for the week,” she says. “And then we’ll say oh wait, that’s right, where are we going to meet… That part will be kind of sad.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The details will be determined by the State Fire Marshall. De Pere FIre Chief Alan Matzke says multiple factors led to that decision.
“The fact that there were multiple parties involved, multiple insurance carriers and the dollars lost amount.”
Chief Matzke says since the community was so greatly impacted by the fire, they would like to get answers quickly, but the process for a fire that size takes time.
“They are going to be doing a lot of interviews with people that live there, people that work there and people who were just in the area.”
Pierner is still in the process of trying to comprehend everything that happened and the grieving process won’t go away soon.
Yet, she already has to look forward and plan her next steps.
“We will have to find a place where we can afford the rent,” she explains. “We will be looking around and find a place, but who knows when we will get back together to paint again.”
With so many people like Lynn still grieving and looking for a next step at the same time, St. Norbert College felt a responsibility to step in.
“We were asked to provide some temporary housing, so the first night we put people up in the Kress Inn,” says Brian Bruess, president of nearby St. Norbert College.
Bruess says, first and foremost, they are just trying to make sure that residents have their basic needs met.
“We have two faculty and one alum that we are helping,” he says. “We are offering food and clothing, the basics because they had a total loss.”
Officials at St. Norbert College point out that they are just one of many De Pere institutions helping out and they simply are trying to do their part.
“And we believe we are of, with and for the city of De Pere and Green Bay, and the expectations we have for ourselves to support the mayor and city in any way that we can,” says Bruess.
A caseworker is helping displaced residents find permanent housing, according to De Pere’s mayor.
All of the impacted business owners will be contacted by the city within the next couple of days to help them find a new location.
Matzke says the fire was the biggest that De Pere has had in over 25 years and required more help than they have needed in his time with the fire department.
