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Blaze destroys Fort Scott buildings
* Citizens asked to conserve water.
By Jason E. Silvers and Robin Hixson
Fort Scott Tribune
A disastrous inferno tore through downtown Fort Scott Friday afternoon, leaving a row of several downtown buildings gutted by fire, damaging others, incluidng the historic railroad depot and sparking a plea from the city that residents conserve water. Vast amounts of water used to battle the devastating blaze.
Fort Scott Mayor Gary Billionis told the Associated Press Friday that it's likely firefighters will remain on the scene all weekend. At least six buildings were damaged in addition to the those buildings considered a total loss, Billionis said.
''It just makes you want to sit down and cry because this is our community,'' City Manager Richard Nienstedt told the Associated Press as he looked at a three-story building with a collapsed roof.
''It looks like if you look at pictures of World War II of buildings that were bombed and burned down … but we are lucky, no one was hurt.''
Spectators lined the sidewalks of Fort Scott's historic district as firefighters from departments all over southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri attempted to douse the raging inferno that had been reported at about 2 p.m. in the building at 13 S. Main Street, on the street's east side.
Firefighters spent the next four hours fighting a tough battle as flames spread from building to building, high winds fanning the flames.
The first firefighters on the scene aimed their hoses into the front of the building as Fort Scott police and fire officials began evacuating people on the east side of Main Street and on the west side of Scott Avenue, just across the alley east of the burning building. By shortly after 3 p.m., about 15 fire trucks and numerous fire personnel had arrived to help fight the swiftly moving fire.
City officials said in addition to the Fort Scott Fire Department, crews from Bourbon County Rural Fire District No. 3, the Nevada Fire Department in Nevada, Mo., the Linn County Fire Department, and the Hiattville Fire Department helped battle flames. As the situation progressed, the Pleasanton, Mound City, Prescott, Pittsburg, and Allen County Fire departments were called to assist, and four Vernon County, Mo. stations also responded with personnel and equipment.
Fire and police officials on the scene said they did not know what started the fire that sent huge clouds of smoke pouring out of the building doors and windows.
Mitch Barker, Fort Scott, owner of a local photography shop, said he had watched as police cars and fire trucks began appearing on the scene. Barker said he heard several sirens and saw some people come out of the dentist's office at 11 S. Main, the adjoining building just north of the original fire site. Barker said he saw no flames in the building --only smoke that filled one block of downtown Main Street. Thick, brown smoke also continued to pour out of the rear of the building and wafted up into the afternoon air as fire and police officials arrived at the scene. Upon entering 13 S. Main St., fire officials knocked windows out of an upstairs apartment directly above the bar.
At about 3:12 p.m. the Bourbon County Chapter of the American Red Cross arrived with drinking water for firefighters. Also about that time, firefighters -- using a ladder truck -- ascended to the roof of the building at 11 S. Main and began spraying about 250 gallons of water per minute on top of the building, which caused more smoke to pour out into the street.
At 3:18 p.m., firefighters reported that they were losing water pressure and asked that someone contact the Fort Scott Water Department to focus water pressure on the downtown area. At 3:20 p.m., firefighters requested that Westar Energy shut off all power to the buildings on that block.
Officials also became concerned about the possible collapse of exterior walls of 11 S. Main Street.
Standing at the northwest corner of Wall and Main streets, Neinstedt relayed information to other officials by cellular phone as he watched the blaze work its way up through the building at 11 S. Main to its roof.
Between phone calls, he said firefighters had redistributed the fire hoses to maximize the water pressure, and that they were pumping about 4,800 gallons a minute.
About 3:35 p.m. officials reported that a building just south of 13 S. Main had also caught fire. Just a few minutes later, the roof of 11 S. Main collapsed dropping debris onto the roof of 9 S. Main, causing it to ignite.
The north wall of the building at 11 S. Main St. then collapsed onto the roof of the structure at 9 S. Main as flames roared into the afternoon sky.
Meanwhile, Nevada and Deerfield firefighters worked on Scott Avenue, hosing down the buildings on its west side in an attempt to keep them from going up in flames, as well.
At one point the roof of the historic railroad freight depot at the southeast corner of Scott Avenue and Wall streets ignited, but firefighters soon extinguished it and then climbed up to check for hot spots.
The depot is owned by the Historic Preservation Association of Bourbon County. At 4 p.m., the entire affected block on Main Street was shut off from public access as police and firefighters continued efforts to stop the flames that were working their way from building to building. By this time, reports were coming in to the Daily Mail that residents could see the smoke from Nevada, a distance of about 20 miles; and one man reported seeing the smoke from Milo, six miles south of Nevada.
By 5:30 p.m., newspaper staff on the scene estimated that 70 percent of the buildings on the east side of Main Street between Wall and First streets appeared to be heavily damaged.
An eye-witness account
Keith Jeffers watched the action from the Fort Scott Scottish Rite Temple, about a half block from the building in which the fire originally broke out. The Temple was never involved in the blaze, and members made themselves available to offer food and other assistance if needed.
Jeffers' written account, received this morning by the Daily Mail of the blaze begins like this: "This fire started at approximately 1:30 - 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon, and appeared to be under control in just the one building until about 5 p.m., when it spread to the building to the north.
"Following this, the fire quickly spread to the building to the south, and jumped the alley to buildings to the east. Reports are that there were a total of (at least) 10 different fire departments from at least 6 counties called in, with 150 fire-fighters working. The National Guard sent a Blackhawk helicopter, which was dropping 600 gallons of water from above."
"Watching from the roof of the Temple, we were able to see quite a bit of the action," Jeffers said.
"By 7 p.m., it appeared to us that at least seven or eight buildings were involved in the fire, but the Courtland Hotel and the Village Shops were not in the fire, although they were in danger still. Power was out on most of the block, but our Temple still had power and utilities. Water was being shut off throughout the local area, to focus the water to the hydrants that needed to be used."
"At 9 p.m., many of the roofs had been caved in and much of the fire was being knocked down to the lower levels of the buildings. Smoke damage to buildings to the East will be fairly extensive. (This would include the old Rising Sun Lodge on Scott Street)."
"At 6 o'clock this morning, much of the area was smoldering, with the fire-fighters still putting water on hot spots. The city and surrounding areas are being asked to conserve water, taking no more than a two-minute shower only if necessary, and to stay away from the downtown area. The streets are closed from the Old Fort to Second Street on Main Street and Scott Street, and from National to the Highway 69 overpass on Wall Street."
The aftermath
Business owners and residents of the downtown area were briefed at a City Hall meeting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning, and a press conference was set to follow at 9:30.
Associated Press reports following the conference noted that city officials believe nine of the buildings will have to be demolished but will be rebuilt to conform with the historical nature of the downtown area.
Property damages are estimated to be in the millions, and there still is no indication of what originally sparked the blaze.
Daily Mail editor Lynn A. Wade and the Associated Press contributed to this story.