16 YEARS AGO Out of the Past - April 6, 2007

Landmark building destroyed in blaze Monumental fire overwhelms community resources

The South Side Fire devastated Broken Bow’s historic district Sunday. In the aftermath, only rubble remains of the 1890 building.

the fire call came in at 5:53 p.m. telephoned in by a passerby who saw smoke seeping out of the building.

People came from across the county to watch - an estimated 1,300 onlookers gathered, standing quite, obeying without question any request to stand back. The talked among themselves, replaying their own memories of the building and the businesses and services ti contained through the years: a beauty shop, men’s clothing store, dentist, doctors and lawyer’s offices, department stores, a music shop, fix-it-shop, drug store ....

The 1890 building is made of old brick, kilned in Broken Bow’s backyard. After a century of weather the brick is porous, each serving as its own mini-chimney. The smoke penetrated the air and hinted at the smell of a wood burning stove, but far more pungent. Eyes burned.

The firemen didn’t seem to tire. A relief station was set up in the Municipal Building, opening at 7 Sunday, not to close for the next two days. Getting volunteers was not a issue. Folks wanted to help.

early Monday morning the first of a series of update meetings was conducted to keep everyone informed.

A sense of priority quickly surfaced, always always, always, it was safety first. No one was hurt and for that the community can give thanks.

City moves into emergency mode

The fire call came in at 5:53 p.m. Sunday. By 11 p.m. the city was in a state of emergency. The first meeting late that night was the first of many over the next several days. Mike Evans served as incident chair. Each day he asked each of the department chairs to recap what has happened since the policy group last met, emphasizing that is was important for everyone to be on the same page. State emergency directives allow the formation of a policy group outside of the open meeting laws.