FIRE GUTS DOWNTOWN STORE - Flames that began by dancing along the edge of a downtown business early this morning eventually destroyed it, casting a bright orange glow over Christmas decorations twinkling in the heart of Main Street.

Firefighters worked all morning to contain the blaze that gutted the Ames Stationers, 238 Main St., and six offices in the upstairs level.  Damage to the building alone is estimated at $300,000.  Damage to building contents has yet to be estimated.

With a pumper water cannon that shoots 1,000 gallons a minute and other hoses, three firetrucks and 28 men fought the fire that fed on ceiling tile and tar on the top level of the building, which had been remodeled several times.  The roof fell in at 3 a.m.  No one was in the building at the time.  Front windows on the second-level upstairs offices had been broken to fight the fire.  Workers were still shooting water on the blaze at 10 a.m. this morning, nearly 12 hours after the blaze was reported.

Firefighters, who were poised on top of Tallmon Jewelers, 236 Main St., prepared to fight a potentially spreading fire, said the blaze was under control by 4 a.m.  A firewall between buildings prevented the flames from spreading.

A crowd of about 250 onlookers earlier in the evening dwindled to a handful as the wind picked up and temperatures dropped.  The First National Bank temperature reported 34 degrees after midnight.  Flames on the roof warmed the faces of the curious.  A 70-foot firetruck ladder aimed a jet of water from above.

Liz Golden had an eye-level view of the blaze from her top-level fourth-floor Shldon-Munn apartment that sits across the street from the burning building.  At 2 a.m. flames had taken over the entire roof.  Street lights at the intersection continued to cycle through.  Christmas decorations of red and green twinkled.  Orange flames danced on the roof.

Fire officials notified storeowners to the east of the Ames Stationers.  Youth and Shelter Services Director George Belitsos had five minutes to remove irreplaceable documents.  Workers at Tallman's scurried to remove the store's jewelry inventory.  Owners of Lazy M Shoe Store, 232 Main St., and the IIT Computer Warehouse, 230 Main St., carted out inventory through about 6 inches of standing water that came cascading down the stationer's stairs like a waterfall.

Owners of Durlam and Durlam Man's and Women's Clothing, 226 Main St., apparently were not affected by potential smoke damage.  Tallmon's received smoke and water damage, but owners said they expected to be back in business Friday, traditionally the busiest shopping day of the season.

Smoke filtered to the east past Duff Avenue throughout the night.  Volunteers brought hot drinks for exhausted firefighters, who had been on the scene since 10 p.m.  Alarm bells signaling exhausted oxygen tanks rang throughout the night.  Workers piled bright yellow tanks into the backs of pickup trucks and replenished air supplies needed by firefighters to battle the blaze.  Water rained from machines.

The fire, which was first visible from the southeast corner of the building at 11:25 p.m., shot flames 10-15 feet in the air intermittently and left cinders floating down.  Blasts of water would squelch the flames, only to have black puffs of dense smoke again signal another outburst of fire.  The blaze would die, roar to life, die and shoot up again.

Smoke poured off the roof as firefighters shot water from Kellogg Avenue into second-story windows.  Gas and electric utilities were turned off.

Ames Fire Chief Ralph Parks said this morning that the fire is believed to have started in the basement of the two-story structure and spread to the upstairs by way of a chimney passage.  The cause of the blaze is not known, he said.  Fire officials will be investigating.  Parks, who has been with the Ames Fire Department for 18 years, said he cannot remember a fire of this magnitude on Main Street.  In the late 1970s, a fire gutted what was called Gold's Veritable Quandry, the current home of That Place, 205 Main St.  And in the mid-1970s Genuine John's Tavern, located on Kellogg Avenue, was totaled.

...The Ames Stationers alarm system alerted firefighters about 9:45 p.m. Sunday.  At the time, dense black smoke with a pungent odor seeped through windows on the west side of the building facing Kellogg Avenue.  Firefighters, who at times had five water hoses spraying at once, used fans to vent the smoke.  Dry spots on the water-soaked building signaled hot spots.

City Manager Steve Schainker, along with fire Chief Parks and business owners, sipped coffee and watched the orange blaze early this morning.  Water gushed out of the eight windows facing Kellogg Avenue at 4:30 a.m.

The owners of Tallmon's say they might have to have a "Our Prices Are So Hot Sale."  They smiled and drank deeply from piping hot cups of coffee.