Open Letter To Yakima About The Fire @ 1Up Games

On Friday, May 3rd, 2025, around 5 pm, the video game community in the Yakima Valley was served with a severe gut punch.

Not just the gaming community but collectors, historians, and fans of anything pop culture and retro lost a beautiful gem that we enjoyed.

When the 1Up Games store caught on fire in an accident involving a flare gun (according to the Yakima Herald-Republic), it caused a lot of damage, an estimated $400,000 worth of electronics, games, toys, statues, collectibles, and so much more in loss.

Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, and the fire crews showed up on the scene and got the situation under control quickly. A huge thank you to them.

When the news hit social media, there was a lot of heartache for the workers and the loss of a locally owned Yakima business.

But there were also trolls, and this article is mainly directed at them.

News Of Yakima Game Store Fire Hits Social Media

While you laugh at people mourning the loss of video games and toys, remember, there were employees that worked there.

That was someone’s business that he built from the ground up and had made it a huge success. That success helped him take care of his family and employ staff members whose income helped care for their families.

That is gone now, or at least interrupted.

Not to mention the neighboring barber shop and how they had to relocate their business for the time being. As I took these photos 3 days after the incident, the smell of smoke and ash was still so strong, 10 feet away from the front doors.

Stepping away from the personal side of this situation, 1Up Games held history.

Yakima Game Store Fire & The Historical Contents

Specializing in retro gaming. Items from 20, 30, 40 years and older. Items from our past that can NOT be replaced.

In a world where more and more of our entertainment is going purely digital, and we don’t “OWN” anything, items like what 1Up Games catered to are special, unique, and may be gone to history for good. We may never know.

Final Thoughts On Yakima's 1Up Games & The Fire Reactions

For those trolls who hide behind their keyboards mocking a devastating accident, please, BE BETTER.

Put yourself in the shoes of the owner and employees. In the perspective of the people who loved and enjoyed that store and the joy and history it brought to them. Think before you post. BE BETTER.

I don’t know what the future of the store will be, but I do hope that just like a phoenix rises from the ashes of fire, so will 1Up Games, so we can enjoy a site like this once again.

UPDATE: 5 Hours after publishing this article, the Facebook page for 1UP Games posted this update:

"Thank you to everyone for reaching out with all your kind words and offers to help. We are currently patiently waiting for the next steps to begin rebuilding. We are planning to rebuild and keep going. Although the store you knew and loved is gone we hope to restart and grow into the store you all remember. I thank each and every one of you for your support and friendship over the 14 years of business."
- 1Up Games

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