<\/p>\n
Few if any retail businesses in Durango managed to escape the absence of tourists stemming from the 416 Fire and the cancellation of train runs to Silverton.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is definitely affecting us,\u201d said Tori Ossola, rooms division manager at the Strater Hotel<\/a>. \u201cWe are a historic property and many people package a ride on the train with a stay at the Strater. When people saw the trains weren\u2019t going to be running, that changed their plans.\u201d<\/p>\n Ossola estimated this June\u2019s sales are close to 40 percent down from June 2017, and room rates were reduced.<\/p>\n In addition, last week when the smoke from the fire was particularly bad, Ossola said they received a few cancellations from people with respiratory problems, and even a few people who live at low altitudes were expressing concern about air quality.<\/p>\n On the positive side, she said employees of the hotel opened up their homes to other employees who had been evacuated.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was real sense of community and compassion that came from our corner of Main Avenue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n July bookings are returning to a more seasonal rate, she added.<\/p>\n Gary Cook, an entertainer and co-owner of the Bar D Chuckwagon<\/a>, said he estimates sales at the supper and entertainment venue are down 25 percent compared with June 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re down, like everyone involved in tourism, I\u2019m sure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t have to close down this time, but we\u2019ve had some small crowds,\u201d he said, noting that the 2002 Missionary Ridge Fire burned all around the Bar D Chuckwagon, and he and another Bar D Chuckwagon owner lost their houses to that blaze.<\/p>\n The Bar D Chuckwagon is celebrating its 50th anniversary and has several special guests visiting to celebrate, including Charlie Daniels who preformed Monday, and he said the show was sold out.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all in this together, and we\u2019ll all survive,\u201d he said. \u201cKeep a positive outlook and hopefully we\u2019ll get the rains and the summer will be more like what we were hoping for.\u201d<\/p>\n Roger Zalneraitis, executive director of the La Plata Economic Development Alliance<\/a>, said after talking with businesses, he is confident the economic loss from the 416 Fire is in excess of $1 million, and he said it was probably $2 million or more when factoring in La Plata County and San Juan County.<\/p>\n A better idea of the economic harm will emerge, he said, when sales tax, lodgers tax, and real estate sales numbers for June and July are available and when unemployment numbers come out from the state of Colorado.<\/p>\n Jessica Haydon, manager of Fired Up Pizzeria<\/a> looked at her half-filled dinning room Monday shortly before 5 p.m. and said, \u201cIf the train were running, there wouldn\u2019t be a table available.<\/p>\n \u201cWe depend on that train more than people know,\u201d she said, adding she schedules shifts at the restaurant based on the D&SNG\u2019s schedule.<\/p>\n \u201cEven the small runs they\u2019ve started this week increased our business,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Haydon estimated June sales are about 30 percent down compared with June 2017.<\/p>\n Johnna Bronson, owner of lively (a boutique)<\/a> said locals have been supportive by shopping downtown last week, but she is still down between 10 to 15 percent this month.<\/p>\n When the fire first hit, Bronson said her sales weren\u2019t affected because tourists were mulling around downtown looking for other things to do, but when the first wave cleared out \u201cit almost felt like February again\u201d she said of foot traffic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt does feel like life is coming back and things will get back to normal, but we had one day without sales, and that scared me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n