A downtown Bryan building that went up in flames last Thursday night hadn't been inspected by the Fire Marshal's office for nearly two years.

Fire shooting through the roof is what we saw from outside 209 North Main, but inside belongings of a small business were burning up.

The 2 business owners were about to use the cooking stove, and the fire marshal's office says it malfunctioned.

"It is a sad situation for those two individuals more than anybody else. They have lost everything," said Fire Marshal Mark McFeron with the Bryan Fire Department.

The building was a year overdue for an inspection by the Fire Marshal's Office.

"It is very difficult for us to get to. I think there's 2800 businesses in the city of Bryan, and it's a very difficult process to get to all of them," said McFeron.

The Fire Marshal's Office tells us that buildings with a small business, like the one on 209 North Main, are low on the list of getting inspections because the occupancy is so low. The goal of the fire department is to inspect all buildings in downtown Bryan annually, but we found out the building hasn't been inspected in 2 years.

McFeron told us that the stove malfunction wouldn't have been caught in a fire inspection.

Due to a big workload and a small staff, there is a lack of fire inspection.

"I don't like it. It's just the situation that we are not going to be able to meet it. As we keep growing, we need to keep growing too," said McFeron. "What could have helped here? Education. Following some possible guidelines possibly."

Maintaining all electrical appliances especially in an old building is the message the fire department would like the public to take away from this tragic incident.

Bryan firefighters were able to bring that fire under control before it spread to other historic buildings downtown.

The fire department says it doesn't have any record of fire code violations for that building.