Damage From Commerce Street Fire in Westerly Extensive; Apartments Destroyed [Photos]

On Saturday, work crews began cleaning up and demolishing 3-7 Commerce Street in Westerly, which was badly damaged in a roaring fire Friday that left the residents of the upper-floor apartments homeless and two business owners without their livelihoods.

The area still smelled heavily of soot Saturday morning as work crews climbed ladders and ripped off aluminum siding that whipped in the brisk springtime wind. Curious onlookers snapped photographs, and traffic on Main Street slowed to a funereal crawl as it passed the building.

Although no one would comment to Patch officially, it appears as if at least some of the equipment and furnishings in Ten Sandwiches and many of the antiques in the window of Mary D's were undamaged.

Ten Sandwiches posted a note on their Facebook page Saturday morning thanking everyone for their concern and saying that they will keep everyone updated as things develop.The upper residential portion of the building is a complete loss, with most of the third floor caved into the second floor.

"As most of you know there was a fire in one of the apartments above Ten Sandwiches last night. Everyone made it out of the building safely but the fire caused significant damage to the upper floors. We are very appreciative of your support during this time. We'll be posting updates here as we get more information."

For photos of the fire itself, plus a video showing the fire's progression to full involvement, check out our coverage from last night.

Do you have photos or videos you took of Friday's fire? Upload them either here or in our previous story on the fire.