As soon as I got out of my car I could smell the residual smoke from the fire that burned the Healdsburg post office last night. The street was taped off along with police, fire and federal officials still swarming the area. Although no one yet knows how the fire got started, speculation is that it started in the roof of the building. A couple of years ago postal officials wanted to move the post office to the annex location on Foss Creek Circle to save money, but an uproar with residents forced them to reconsider the move. Smoke once again starts to rise from the back of the building and the firefighters get to work.

I park myself right at the edge of the Do Not Cross tape in front of Amoruso Print shop, pull out my sketchbook and start drawing. Many residents stop by to pay their regards to the old burned out building and tell me stories about the history of the place. The building was used for many things before being a post office including a small Safeway grocery store back in the 60’s.