4:45 p.m. update: Cause of fire undetermined

Published 4:14 pm Sunday, June 17, 2018

Updated at 4:43 p.m.

The Brewton Fire Department is unsure of the cause of a fire that began in the law offices of Billy Earl Cook Sunday afternoon and threatened adjacent buildings on the downtown boardwalk.

As firefighters from Brewton, East Brewton, Appleton and McCall worked to contain the blaze, Belleville Avenue was blocked from the courthouse to the Bank of Brewton, as well as a portion of Saint Joseph Avenue for several hours. Firefighters were still on the scene at 4:45, checking adjacent buildings and pulling portions of the roof off of Cook’s law firm.

Cook was able to enter his building and save file cabinets and documents.

Connie Baggett confirmed that the City of Brewton just leased the building adjacent to Cook’s office, which was full of smoke Sunday afternoon. The building was leased for the city’s maker’s market.

The state fire marshal’s office is expected to investigate the cause of the fire on Wednesday.

The Brewton Standard will continue to update this story.