MONROE — The afternoon was warm and calm Monday on the east side of Monroe’s downtown square. And with a few notable exceptions, the row of shops, restaurants and apartments showed little evidence of being spared last week from the type of total destruction by fast-moving fire most feared for that part of the city’s downtown, given its history.

But several residents were still rendered temporarily homeless by the blaze; and there was extensive damage to the rear of the bar where it was discovered just before 10:37 a.m. Thursday at 1012 17th Avenue. The incident also rallied an already tight-knit group of businesses owners and residents downtown, who in the aftermath, collected items for those temporarily displaced from the upstairs apartments.

“We’re very grateful and blessed the fire didn’t come down this way,” said Maralynn Martin of Martin’s Sporting Goods, which is separated from where the storm started by just one other small business, Sunrise Donut Café.

Martin was in the shop when the fire started, while her husband and co-owner Don recuperated at home from a medical issue, she said. On that Thursday afternoon, as they watched from across the street, many feared that the many rounds of ammunition on Martin’s shelves could prove catastrophic if cooked off by heat and fire — not to mention the cost of losing a big inventory of long guns, pistols and other valuables. Like others in the aftermath, the Martins are picking up the pieces from a fire that did extensive damage to several structures, including to the store’s roof and a few other spots.

As is the case with most structure fires, water and smoke traveled well beyond the scene and origin of the fire. But officials have yet to issue a damage estimate and investigation of the fire will be continued through the State Fire Marshall’s Office.

“I had some good men to help me clean up,” said Martin, referring to fellow shop workers who stepped up and put in extra hours to help.

At another key business anchoring the Square’s east side, prescriptions were being processed and the phone rang as it would any other weekday on Monday. There, pharmacist Ray Siekert of Schultz Hometown Pharmacy, said the place was largely unaffected by the blaze, save for a few hours on the day of the fire in which they were closed and could not serve customers.

“We were all very fortunate that it didn’t do more damage,” said Siekert, as customers come and went, without even the smell of acrid smoke to suggest what happened last Thursday. “We’re still here for the community and glad to be here to serve them.”

At Bartels, contractor trucks were in place to start work on the restoration of the building. But the only outward evidence of Thursday’s fire scare on the Square was a front window covered with particle board. Meanwhile, the bar has logged more than 1,200 comments from well-wishers.

Other businesses impacted by the event used social media to reach out to communicate with customers and update the community, even though they had to close their doors.

“Watching this event unfold, we thought for sure our entire kitchen was toast,” said a Sunrise Café social media post days later. “Now that we are able to see inside, we are completely blown away to discover that virtually no fire entered the café space at all … but lots of smoke and water.”

Another Sunrise post urged the community to avoid trying to enter certain areas on the east side of the Square and; to help their neighbors get through the mess and fully reopen to busy summer traffic.

“Bartels and the upstairs residences weren’t as fortunate,” said the post. “The path to rebuilding will be a long one for everyone.”

But late on Monday, the Sunrise updated its loyal customers with a more somber tone.

“We were informed today that most likely the entire building must be stripped down to studs, top to bottom. Everything. There is just no recovering from that amount of water. I guess we’ll see how that develops, but at this point, that gut punch is the expectation,” the post said. “We’d like to see this building returned to its former glory. But bear with us, team. This is going to be a long road.”