Fire will stop the press at Spencer newspaper for weeks
Fire swept through the offices of The Mountain View this week, destroying what had become Van Buren County’s longest standing local newspaper.
The fire was discovered just after 6 p.m., Monday, a little over an hour after reporters had left the building for the day. Publisher Leonard Cass said the source of the fire appeared to be electrical wiring which had fused near a back closet.
The fire caused extensive damage to the Court Square newspaper office, burning up supplies and the publication’s archives. Smoke and water damage destroyed the equipment in the building.
Given the widespread damage, Cass said the newspaper will likely be out of business for a while, but he hopes to bring the publication back since it is important to the community. Cass said he hopes what insurance the paper had will at least partially help offset the new start-up costs. However, Cass said he is committed to resurrecting the paper from the ashes.
“The earliest we could possibly do anything is two or three weeks,” Cass said. “But a newspaper here is extremely important. It’s almost a necessity. A community needs to have a newspaper to grow because it gets vital information out to the people.”
Prior to the fire, the newspaper had a circulation of about 2,000 readers – a number Cass said was excellent given the fact there are only 2,200 households in Van Buren County.
Cass said the paper prints in Crossville, therefore no press was lost in the blaze. He also noted there has been an offer from the American Legion for the use of office space.
Cass started the paper along with partner Sandy Crain in March 1999. Prior to that time, residents of Van Buren County depended exclusively on the Southern Standard and Sparta Expositor for local news. The nearly four-year run of The Mountain View is the longest of any hometown Van Buren County newspaper in Cass’ memory. The paper is a weekly, normally containing 16 to 20 pages, which hits the streets on Friday mornings.