Residents in Idaho City are rising from the ashes one year after a devastating fire destroyed downtown.
It’s been just over a year since a fire burnt five businesses leaving an already quiet community that relies on tourism at a loss.
“We’re all small shops; we're all small businesses. And everyone struggled. The people that make all their money in the summer, they make half their money in four months or more, and they were closed,” spokeswoman Rhonda Jameson explained.
For insurance and investigative purposes, the remains of the shops stood over four months before being completely torn down.
“We were pretty depressed; we didn't know last year if we'd recuperate,” Jameson said.
To make matters worse, the fire was declared as arson and police have not made an arrest in the case. The fire and investigation are now but a distant painful memory and residents are looking toward the future.
The city has declared June 11th, 2016 as Phoenix Day.
Dozens of events are scheduled including a ribbon cutting, open houses for area businesses, chainsaw carving, and live music.
