PHOTOS: The new Westridge Commissary was a dramatic addition to Casperâs expanding edges when it opened in 1950.
The new shopping center was the second operation opened by Commissary Inc., which operated what was likely Casperâs first modern full-service grocery store on 442 E. Yellowstone.
By all accounts, the shopping center continued to stay busy with business as usual. However, that all changed on a memorable Sunday in April 1972.
According to newspaper accounts, a night watchman was inside the store when smoke was first seen in the back of the building. At about 9 p.m., crews at Fire Station No. 2 just across 15th street soon noticed flames escaping out vent shafts.
âThis fire was going real good when they first noticed it,â Fire Chief B.J. McCarrel told the Casper Star-Tribune. Crews tried to pry open a rear door to the building, but the steel door had been barred shut. âIf we could have got into the building we could have saved the building,â said McCarrel.
