RICHLAND CENTER — Becki Hilleshiem and her family wanted to help Joen M. Fazel. But now Fazel, who lived above the Hilleshiem family’s music shop for more than 20 years, is accused of the store’s demise.

A fire early Tuesday that police say was intentionally set caused more than $750,000 of damage, destroyed four apartments and three businesses — the Music Shop, Palace Barber Shop and the Frame Corner.

Water and smoke damage also has forced two other neighboring businesses in this city’s downtown to undertake major renovations.

Fazel, 61, remained Friday in the Richland County Jail on a tentative charge of felony arson. An emotional and torn Hilleshiem has empathy for Fazel, who has long suffered from depression. But Hilleshiem also was on the verge of pushing for Fazel to be involuntarily committed. She lived alone and hasn’t paid her portion of her government subsidized rent since 1996.

However, Hilleshiem said Friday that Fazel talked of moving out and had put up a sign in the public library saying she was giving away all of her possessions.

“This was not a random act. It was premeditated,” Hilleshiem said. “I pray she gets the help she needs because she fell through the cracks. But I want to see justice.”

Fazel was arrested Wednesday and bail was set Thursday at $100,000. Charges could be filed by the Richland County District Attorney’s office on Monday.

The cleanup, meanwhile, will take months.

Minda Barber, who purchased the Frame Corner in 1995, said she lost about $200,000 in inventory but was able to salvage the hard drive from her computer. She has no plans to close the business.

“I’m hoping I’ll find a vacant building,” Barber said. “We’ve got a really good business and we want to stay downtown. This is the heart of the city.”

The one-chair Palace Barber Shop was opened by Becki Hilleshiem’s father, Bud Hilleshiem, in 1976. His wife, Beth, opened the Music Shop in 1980 just down the street from its current location.

At the time, vinyl was king of the music industry, 8-track tapes were on their way out and compact discs and digital downloads weren’t even on the horizon. The shop moved next to the barber shop in 1982. It has hosted piano and guitar lessons in its two tiny studios and sold a variety of instruments. The wide selection of sheet and recorded music brought together music lovers of all ages and backgrounds.

Phil Nee, 46, has worked at local radio station WRCO for the past 23 years and has used the shop since it opened. His first purchase was an album by Creedence Clearwater Revival. His most recent, a DVD of the fourth season of the Partridge Family television show, came last week.

“I think people are feeling sorry for both sides,” Nee said when asked about the Hilleshiem family and Fazel. “It’s just unfortunate.”

John Smart, 59, lived in LaFarge for many years but drove from his home in southern Jefferson County on Friday to purchase a Hohner Special 20 harmonica. Instead he found the music store in ruins. Over the years he also has purchased recordings from British blues band Savoy Brown and American blues artist Charlie Musselwhite. “I used to order all kinds of music,” Smart said. “Stuff you just can’t buy in a (regular) store.”

Water continued to drip Friday from the partially collapsed tin ceiling while the music.

Soaked sheet music littered the floor, though many items had been removed from the peg-board walls.

Becki Hilleshiem, who has helped run the store all of her adult life, hopes her mother and father will agree to rebuild.

“There’s just so many memories,” Hilleshiem said. “This is much more than a music store. This has been our lives.”

Associated Bank, located on one side of the fire, reopened with limited hours and is scheduled to resume normal hours on Tuesday.

On the other side of the site of the fire, the damage is subtle but devastating. Upholstered furniture and carpeting at the 75-year-old Meadows C. Furniture store appears to have escaped damage but will be headed to a landfill because of smoke that can’t be removed.

The store, located in two buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, will soon move around the corner until the interior can be renovated. “This is a disaster for this downtown,” Michael Meadows said. “The fire department did a heroic job. The whole block could have gone.”