Amazingly, the fire was within a block of the police department and only two blocks from the fire department, so both were there quickly.
I got on Facebook and listened to online police scanners to keep up with what was going on.
Then things really went downhill. They couldn't get the fire hydrant to work and when they finally got it going, the water tower was swiftly drained and a water main break occurred due to pressure on old pipes, etc. They started calling in tanker trucks from fire departments from all over the area to bring water and plus were filling up tankers from the small lake at the city park.
Trucks from at least 20 fire departments were called from as far as 50 miles away with at least 200 fire fighters fighting the blaze which totally destroyed two buildings and damaged two more and utility workers trying to deal with power issues. They finally got it contained early this morning.
In the meantime, the fire caused damage to phone and power lines on the north side of town and most people in town lost water. Haven't been able to talk to my youngest son because phone and internet are down up that way.
I saw people posting on Facebook about not having any water and what were they going to do? Good grief, some of them still don't even keep a few jugs of water in case of an emergency. It never seems to amaze me that so many people still don't think ahead in view of everything that has happened and will continue to happen.
I was lucky. I live on the south end of town and actually just over the line in the next community and we have a separate water tower and system. Last October I was lucky also, as the duplex I had moved out of 2 months early caught fire and burned.
Who says life in a small town is boring???
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