Fire heavily damages Milton's Downtown historical district (Update4 with photo gallery)

Tuesday's fire forced county officials to make arrangements due to Highway 90 being closed from Canal Street in Milton to Ward Basin Road in East Milton.

The Clerk's Office has made arrangements to take payments for court cost and traffic citations at the Administration Building at 6495 Caroline Street, Suite A (behind McDonald's/Regions Bank) from 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. thru Friday, January 9, 2009.

After hours services are available at that location every evening, Monday - Friday. Recording, marriage license, passports, court filings and collections of traffic fines and court costs will be accepted at this location daily during these hours.

Click here to see more photos from Tuesday night's fire in Downtown Milton.

Firefighters were still battling a huge fire in Milton's Historical Downtown along Highway 90 Tuesday night as an anticipated storm arrived with a brief heavy shower.

Several different fire units from across Santa Rosa and Escambia counties turned out to assist with the fire that was first reported at 6:50 p.m. Tuesday and were still battling flames at 11:49 p.m. when the anticipated rains arrived, as the fire had been gotten under control.

Hindering the fire fighters efforts Tuesday night were the heavy winds as traffic along Highway 90 was diverted along Ward Basin Road in East Milton and Canal Street in Milton.

This section of Highway 90 will remain closed until further notice as through traffic will be diverted along Interstate 10. Those who are scheduled to appear at the Santa Rosa County Courthouse will be able to park to the south of the courth house.

Currently the cause of the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshall's office

Many onlookers watched as the fire stretched along the north side of Highway 90 from Elmira to Willing streets and some people were even talking about the fact it was almost 100 years since the last major downtown fire occurred on Jan. 30, 1909.

The fire originated in a white building behind the Imogene Theater and old Bray Building which is owned by Skip Mitchell according to Santa Rosa County PIO Joy Tsubooka.

At the time of the fire around 10 people were inside the Imogene.

"We were getting ready to start a swing dance class," said Santa Rosa Historical Society President Wesley Meiss. "We started smelling smoke and went outside and noticed the building behind the theater engulfed in flames.

"The fire then jumped over and spread to the theater."

Meiss said that the entire roof to the theater was gone.

Milton Mayor Guy Thompson was hoping the Imogene can be salvaged.

"We have lost a lot of valuable property in our downtown historic district," said Thompson."I am hoping the structural integrity of the theater will remain."

Four of the five structures experience partial internal and external collapse. The Imogene Theater received smoke, fire and water damage. Twelve fire departments responded, with over 75 fire-fighters working to contain the fire. Fire Departments responding included the City of Milton, Bagdad, Pace, Avalon, East Milton, Skyline, Munson, Allentown, Whiting Field, Baker, Escambia County and the City of Pensacola.

One fire-fighter from Skyline Fire Department was transported to Santa Rosa Medical Center for heat exhaustion according to Tsubooka. A second fire fighter was overcome by heat but was treated at the scene.

A second individual was transported from the scene to West Florida Medical Center as the smoke aggravated the pre-existing medical condition of an adult female living near the fire.

The Santa Rosa County Court System is anticipating court to operate on Wednesday as scheduled. Everyone should report at their scheduled times.  Caroline Street in front of the courthouse will be closed, including the sidewalks. Parking will be available behind the courthouse and side streets.  The entrance will be the main door located in front of the courthouse, and the paths will be marked.   

Arriving during the fire to check on the situation was Santa Rosa County Judges Ross Bilbrey and Robert Hilliard.

"I got a call about an hour ago from the Chief Deputy Clerk and decided I would come and check things out since the courthouse is in such close proximity," said Hilliard as he arrived. "Across the street we have several ancillary court operations and such things as bail bondsmen and GPS Monitoring."

The GPS Monitoring System was manned in a building which received a great deal of damage, but there was no need for concern about the fire effecting the monitoring or the ancillary court items.

"I have just learned the data across the street is safe and has been backed up," said Hilliard. "Also the GPS monitoring is still going on as they have switched to the National Back-up System until further notice,"

One person who was not so fortunate was bondsman Tony Davis.

"We have been here for three weeks," said Davis as he watched fire come out of the windows of the building where his office was located. "I guess we are going to have to move back to Pensacola where we have been for 28 years.

"I was looking forward to working here in Santa Rosa County, but I got a phone call tonight letting me know what was going on and came down to look."

Fire fighters remained over night to make sure the fire did not reignite.

The businesses effected by this fire were the law offices of T. Sol Johnson and Paul Green, a space for rent, a bail bondsmen, a GPS tracking firm, as well as a mini mall building that housed the local Republican Party Headquarters, a book store/art gallery, as well as the Mudd Pitt coffee shop which had recently closed.

Further updates on this fire will be posted as they become available.