PAWNEE - A bolt of lightning from Wednesday night's storms undid in a few hours what it had taken the Catholic community of Pawnee more than 100 years to build.Pawneeans (?) might want to look into that non-working hydrants thing.
St. Mary's Catholic Church burned to the ground after the bell tower was struck about 8:45 p.m.
Fire Chief Walter Funsch said firefighters arrived to find the steeple and roof in flames. High winds quickly spread the fire throughout the wood-frame structure.
No one was inside at the time.
Nearby fire hydrants weren't working, Funsch said, so tanker trucks from the Chatham Fire Department had to be called in. Assistance also was provided by the Auburn, Divernon and Taylorville fire departments. About 65 firefighters battled the blaze, Funsch said.
By the way, for members of the local media who don't know where Pawnee is, see here.
3 comments:
Pawnee City officials had the hydrants in question tested by an independent engineering firm and none were found to be defective. It was suggested that an overly excited volunteer firefighter opened the hydrant up wide open and essentially collapsed the hoses. The hydrants have not been repaired and are operational to this day. Mystery solved!
your city engineers also said they didn't think that the truck could pump more than a couple hundred gallons of water a minute.. also that firefighter you are talking about only had 20 years experience at the time. nice try mrs anonymous.. and the independant firm happened to be the firm the city pays for all its projects so what do you think they are gonna say..
Thanks so much for this article, quite effective piece of writing.
Post a Comment