With cause of fire undetermined, code violations at cafe not currently linked to fire
ALPINE — Local building and fire officials are cracking down on inspections in the wake of a tragic fire that destroyed a historic, 1911-built structure along with several beloved local businesses along Holland Avenue in Downtown Alpine on May 26.
While the cause of the fire remains “undetermined,” per the State Fire Marshal’s Office, Director of Building Services for the City of Alpine Robert Rückes and Brewster County Fire Marshal James Etchison — both new to their roles — are now taking a more proactive approach to commercial business inspections, particularly restaurants, to help prevent future fires. “We want to be more preemptive than reactive, so that’s our big thing,” Etchison said. “We don’t want another incident like that.”
Among businesses lost in the fire were Eva’s Salon, Gallery on the Square and Judy’s Bread and Breakfast. Rückes told The Big Bend Sentinel there were no active code violations for the businesses located in the building at the time of the fire. Several witnesses said the fire appeared to have started at Judy’s, where flames were emitting from the vent hood located at the back of the building, but a point of origin was never officially identified.
“It was kind of disheartening for us, because we wanted answers,” Etchison said. “We want to get an idea so we can combat that in the future.”
The Big Bend Sentinel sought records for any city code violations for the businesses destroyed from the last two years and only one — Judy’s Bread and Breakfast — was found to have been fined and also in discussions with city officials on how to meet code on a grease trap for its kitchen. While grease traps can cause fires, the business had come into compliance with city code, and officials have no indication that a faulty trap was the cause of the fire.
“I never personally walked into Judy’s and inspected them, or did anything,” Etchison said. “So I can’t tell you my feelings on what was in there because I don’t know.”
The owner of Judy’s restaurant, Lacey Anderson, did not respond to requests for comment.
At least one individual, Presidio-Ojinaga artist Yosdy Valdivia, raised concerns publicly about whether the building that burnt down was up to code and whether something could have been done to prevent the disaster. Valdivia, a Gallery on the Square cooperative member, was in the gallery the day the fire broke out with her nine-month-old child.
Valdivia noticed smoke coming in from the back of the gallery, and said it smelt like burning chemicals. She had concerns over the fire department’s response time, why the building wasn’t insured, and about the overall status of the building’s safety — the gallery lacked a back door exit.
“That was really my issue. Like, come on, what’s up with the inspections? Why is there no back doors for businesses that are supposed to be safe for people working there, or just for the public?” Valdivia said.
Rückes said other than visits from a health inspector to Judy’s and a backflow prevention assembly tester — which checks a device used to prevent backflow of wastewater into drinking water — to Eva’s Salon, he was unaware of any other inspections that would have occurred at the building. Because the building was over 100-years-old and contained many long-running tenants, there was nothing like a change-in-use prompting the city to come in and inspect, he said. And buildings are grandfathered regarding code, meaning they are “only subject to the code that is adopted at the time of construction or remodeling,” he said.
Etchison, who helped fight the fire as a member of the Alpine Volunteer Fire Department, which he now also heads up as chief, did not speculate on the fire’s cause but recalled how quickly the structure was engulfed in flames that day. “That building — watching it burn and feeling the heat — it was a tinderbox,” Etchison said.
Days after the fire destroyed a significant portion of Downtown Alpine’s businesses, the city held a public workshop to discuss how to move forward. Items up for discussion on the agenda included “fire response update,” “business impact plan,” and “lessons learned,” the final being to “understand potential risks to other Alpine buildings so that building owners can call on City officials to conduct walkthroughs and make recommendations.”
But when Valdivia — attending remotely — voiced her concerns about whether the building was safe she was swiftly shut down by Mayor Catherine Eaves, who accused her of “pointing fingers.” Valdivia said she was “humiliated” and disappointed by the mayor’s reaction and would have liked to see a more critical assessment of the fire department’s response.
“She’s supposed to be there to listen to our concerns,” Valdivia said. “It was supposed to be something helpful.”
“They were saying that we’re supposed to talk about positive things. What’s so positive about a fire that burned down five businesses?” she added.
Eaves told The Sentinel that Valvidia “spoke out of line with what was set by the posted agenda,” and that is why she “ended” her comments. “We were not there to be a group of townsmembers with pitchforks, which would have been a nonproductive use of everyone’s time,” Eaves said. “We were there to brainstorm ideas on how to move forward after the tragedy, not discuss the tragedy itself and that was stated in the posted agenda.”
While there were no active code violations on the Holland Avenue businesses, records from the city, obtained by The Sentinel, show code enforcement was not proactively handled for at least one business, Judy’s Bread and Breakfast. Records indicate that in the fall of 2023, code enforcement officers notified Judy’s that they needed to install a grease trap and provide documentation to prove it was being serviced, including receipts from a grease hauler on a quarterly basis. Then, in January 2024, they were issued a citation for not having a grease trap.
Rückes said lacking a grease trap — a plumbing device that prevents grease from kitchen sinks from reaching the sewer system — is required by city code and is “more of a sanitation issue than a fire hazard.” He said while building officials in Alpine do not currently inspect restaurants for grease traps, it is likely that it was discovered Judy’s did not have one due to a clogged pipe in the area which was traced back to their restaurant.
The City of Marfa’s Public Works department inspects restaurant’s grease traps periodically and if they receive a complaint.
Judy’s came into compliance by installing a grease trap, according to court documents, after the citation was issued in January. It is not clear whether the restaurant then contracted with a grease hauler and provided those required receipts to the city.
Rückes said the months-long delay in getting the restaurant to comply with city law and install a grease trap was likely due to the “awful” turnover in the code and buildings departments with no one regularly following the case. Rückes is the eighth building official in the past seven years.
“It doesn’t seem like it was enforced really well for them to get one,” Rückes said. “And I’m going to say that’s probably due to the turnover in the department.”
Etchison, who is working towards becoming fully-credentialed, said he is the first fire marshal Brewster County has had in about 10 years. He recently replaced all the fire extinguishers in county buildings, which he said hadn’t been inspected since 2011.
“For some reason it doesn’t seem like fire protection is a top priority,” Etchison said. “It’s been one of those things. It’s been kind of lacking, not only in the city, but in the county.”
In addition to conducting more inspections in Alpine he is also traveling down to South County. He has been doing courtesy inspections, checking for grease management, cleanliness and fire suppression materials and giving businesses time to comply before follow up inspections.
“We’re really starting to come down on a lot of these restaurants,” Etchison said. “I think once word gets out that I’m starting to do pop-up inspections people will probably, and hopefully, start doing a little bit better.”
The Holland Avenue fire wasn’t the only incident that prompted Etchison and Rückes’ joint inspections — another fire in the kitchen vent hood at Smokehouse BBQ caused by grease buildup recently took place. Etchison said he is enforcing National Firefighters Publication Association code, which is followed nationally, in addition to state standards. He said, ideally, all new construction would be outfitted with fire suppression ventilation systems with employees knowing how to work those systems.
“We’re enforcing some of the stuff that most, if not all, businesses should abide by, especially new construction. Older construction, they kind of fall under the grandfather clause,” Etchison said. “But if you’re opening up a new business within the last five years, then you’re going to fall under these codes that are starting to require fire suppression systems.”
Ruckës said he and Etchison are “going through with a fine tooth comb,” with him enforcing mechanical codes, like proper vent hood installation and more. A Marfa Burrito coming to Alpine is working to get their kitchen up to code before they can open to the public, and Amigo’s has been in discussions with Etchison on coming into compliance, they said.
The officials said their goal is to prevent putting the community, and firefighters, in danger by having a more boots-on-the-ground approach to fire safety moving forward. “A lot of these restaurants and small businesses are in neighborhoods, so they don’t have much around them to protect them from the neighborhood. So, if they were to go up in flames, just the thermal reaction from that can cause the next house to catch on fire,” Etchison said. “If we can get in there and combat this [we can] try to make it a little bit safer for everybody, not only the businesses, but the surrounding areas.”
The burned building on Holland Avenue remains a wreckage site, a colorful “Alpine Will Rise From The Ashes” mural decorating temporary walls that keep out the public. The building’s owner, Bill Ivey, said he is awaiting results from an asbestos inspection and a structural engineering report before he can assess next steps. “We’d have already started cleaning up, but we have to wait to satisfy all the requirements by the city, so we’re stuck until all of these reports get back, then I’ll know more what direction to go in,” he said.
The Gallery on The Square has identified a new location, right next to Catchlight Gallery on the corner of 6th and Holland, but a reopening date has yet to be determined.