Firefighters needed so much water that a Minnesota town had to go without
apnews.com
Residents of a small Minnesota town were asked to go without water as firefighters from 17 departments battled a huge blaze that destroyed a grain elevator.

Firefighters needed so much water to battle a huge grain elevator blaze that they had to ask the whole town to go without — even canceling school to conserve the water supply, officials said.

The cause of the fire isn’t yet known; a fire marshal began an investigation. It took firefighters responding from 17 communities about eight hours to extinguish the blaze in the town of about 2,200 people, which was reported about 11 p.m. Sunday, said Hawley City Administrator Lonnie Neuner. No injuries were reported.

Firefighters even used water from the local golf course because the town’s water tower couldn’t keep up, Neuner said. Their ladder hoses each use about 600 gallons a minute, about as much as Hawley’s system can pump, Neuner said. He expected the city would allow water usage to resume “pretty soon.”

  • Rivalarrival
    10·
    10 months ago

    I’m betting that they used water from a pond on the local golf course, which requires trucks and pumps to draw from. Asking residents to stop using water keeps it available at the hydrants, which are considerably easier to access.