Electrical Fire on Oak fills downtown area with smoke

Smoke came pouring through the downtown area Monday night as firefighters arrived to combat a blaze on Oak Street.

The fire department was alerted to the fire at approximately 9:00 p.m. and rushed to the scene to quell the flames. Smoke bellowed from the roof of the vacant building and flames were visible in the front door as the lights of the firetrucks descended on the scene, according to eyewitness reports.

Soon after the call went out, Officer Sterling Hitch of the Kimball Police Department and Sergeant Brandon Loy of the Kimball County Sheriff's Office closed off the segment of Oak Street between 1st Street and 2nd Street on the 200 block.

By the time the fire crew had suited up and gotten ready to hose down the fire, the fire had already ventilated, according to Kimball Fire Chief Rick Wynne.

"That's what we call it when it's already burnt to the outside and getting all the air it needs," Wynne said.

Though the vacant building looked as if it was going to be completely consumed by the fire to spectators standing on the sidewalk across the street in front of the Wheat Growers Hotel, Wynne states that the damage from the fire was far less severe than it appeared.

"I don't think it's a total loss. It only lost maybe three or four rafters in that roof, and that's basically all the damage it was," Wynne said.

Though there has been much speculation as to the origin of the fire in the vacant building, the explanation for its cause is far less sinister than residents had originally believed with Wynne stating that it was clearly electrical in nature.

"Evidently, the wind must have knocked down an electrical line that was hanging above it and that electrical line fell down across that metal rain gutter on the outside of the building, and it had a metal roof on it. It was just arcing right there. It caught that eave on fire underneath that rain gutter.Anywhere that there's a nail going through the rain gutter holding it in, that would have gotten red hot, and that's what starts those," Wynne said.

Wynne's explanation for the fire was also confirmed at the scene by City of Kimball Electrical Superintendent Bill Hinton.

"It was pretty cut and dry. If there had been any question I would have called the state fire marshal's office and they would have sent an investigator down to look at it. There isn't any question what happened. I talked to Bill Hinton. He was up there with the electrical crew and he said that wire that was laying across there was hot. It was a charged line and so we're 100 percent sure that's what it was," Wynne said. " It was just a pretty basic structure fire for us. They're all about that way."

Approximately 12 firemen stayed at the scene until approximately 11:30 p.m. at which time the fire was completely put out.