On Jan. 28 at 8:28 a.m., the Manhattan Fire Department was dispatched to 519 Pierre St. after a report of a structure fire. Upon arrival, the department found a two-story home with fire roaring from multiple windows. The blaze was contained within 20 minutes, but it took another full hour to extinguish the flames in concealed spaces.
There were no casualties, but $175,000 of damage was done to the structure of the Big Brothers Big Sisters office space, along with an estimated $10,000 of contents lost, according to the press release.
MFD is conducting an ongoing investigation regarding the cause of the fire.
According to Michelle Sink, Big Brothers Big Sisters area director, the results of the fire have left them with unanswered questions about what to do next.
“The fire did cause a complete loss,” Sink said. “Something that we need to look at moving forward is with our insurance company. I know that, ideally, we would love to be able to rebuild on the same site where the office originally stood, but that will be determined by the outcomes with our insurance company.”
In the meantime, the mentorship program and daily operations have been relocated to local businesses that are willing to lend a hand.
“The Flint Hills Breadbasket has been generous enough to give us some office space and conference rooms, so thankfully, we have been able to still meet in person, but then we are able to work remotely when needed,” Sink said. “We are receiving some office space from the foundation buildings at the Edge, and so we have six months where we will be having some working space there, as well as free internet from WTC. That’s going to give us a place where we can land temporarily and have some space where we feel like our operations can resume in a private space.”
The BBBS team admits relocation comes with adversity, but promises continuation.
“We will not see a lapse in service to any of our youth, volunteers and families,” Sink said. “However, it does create some logistical challenges in where will we have our meetings spaces, where we conduct interviews with our potential littles and their families, as well as our potential new volunteers and also where we do our match meetings. Our office was where our new matches would meet for the first time and get to come in and have a neutral meeting spot. So it does create some challenges in those ways; however, continuing our program and supporting our organization, we’re going to make it work, it just causes some roadblocks.”
Sink emphasized the importance of the organization itself, not where operations are held.
“The most important part is that our mission wasn’t around a building, it is around kids,” Sink said. “We’re going to keep supporting that. We also really appreciate our relationship with K-State and our K-State students who spend their time volunteering and being mentors in our program. It is really heartwarming to see.”
