Small Town Excitement . . .

I was out and about around 2 PM this afternoon when I saw flashin lights ahead of me.  When I got close enough to see that they were fire trucks, I checked to see if I had a camera with me, then parked my truck to go gawkin.  The 50ish, sunny, windless day was almost perfect gawkin weather.  


I ended up walking a block or two with the mayor.  He was out gawkin too.  


That's him on the right.  The policeman's wife had a garage sale a couple years ago.  I kind of suspected it was where he lived.  I asked him if I missed a fight or if he lived here.  Sometimes those little blued haired ladies get pretty sassy about things.  Turns out that he lived there and he went on to say that his wife hired him for security without misssin a beat.  It was like he knew what I was gonna say.  He's Good.   

Anyway, the fire was in the building second from the corner.  It was an old apartment building.  I think the owner was tryin to fix it up when he got some extra money, but it still looked rundown from the street.  By the time I got there, the fire was pretty well out.  I'm thinkin they were in the 'hot spot' stage.  


This is a shot from the back side.  I didn't have much choice but to shoot into the sun, so there is a lack of detail. Not much left of the back porch.  Didn't see any windows that weren't broken out, so I'm thinkin it may be pretty well totalled. Time will tell.  The siding on the house next door is melted, leading me to believe that it started on that corner. 

I counted 12 pieces of fire equipment from five departments when I left.  That is the way it it is done around here.  When one dept. gets a call, they almost always call another dept or two and most of the time cancel the mutual aid before they get there unless they need them.  I'm thinkin they called for more help in case they weren't able to contain it.