An early morning fire has destroyed several businesses and the northeastern corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Ashton Avenue in Clarksdale.
Four businesses owned by Coahoma County Board of Supervisors’ President Johnny Newson burned when a house on Ashton Street apparently caught fire and flames spread to his businesses on MLK.
Firefighters responded to the scene about 4 a.m. and found the fire raging.
All the city’s fire trucks and firefighters were called in to battle the blaze. The city’s ladder truck was used to spray down on the fire to keep it from spreading to the historic Haven United Methodist Church on the block’s northwest corner.
The home where the fire is believed to have started was burned to the floor with a fireplace the only thing left standing. The businesses on MLK saw the fire penetrate and destroy much of the roof and gut the interiors to the brick walls.
Firefighters were still on the scene at mid-morning Thursday, ‘overhauling’ the buildings to keep the fire from rekindling. Little if anything looked to be salvageable from the street.
It was not known if the buildings were insured.
A crowd gathered in the early morning to watch the fire consume the businesses that are a neighborhood landmark.
The cause of the fire is not known at this time. Freezing temperature swept into Clarksdale last night and that cold can prompt a rise in fires, as people turn up heaters and stoke fireplaces to stay warm.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
