Thursday Fire Burns Abandoned Apartments
The Wolf Point Volunteer Fire Department responded to a fire at an apartment on the 200 block of Eureka Street early Thursday evening, Nov. 20. Fire Chief Clint Bushman reports, “We believe it to be arson with an accelerant used, such as gasoline. It was started in the lower level corner apartment. We saved the structure from failure or collapse and did a very thorough search for anyone inside the building. Our search came up negative. With that the case, we had a visit with the mayor about the tight exposure to the west since there is a home and garage very close. An apartment building with a steel roof can emit a lot of heat outwards and damage or burn structures if they’re too close. After some discussion, it was decided the equipment the county has on hand can handle a tear-down-in-place strategy much quicker than the city and/ or tribes. As the chief, I’m happy there was a mutual agreement and understanding that these buildings are not only a hazard to the public but an extreme hazard for firemen. Searching for people in buildings burnt multiple times alone is inexcusable. Bringing these buildings down to the ground is the only choice we need to agree on.” The Roosevelt County crew was able to tear the building down on Friday. The fire department was called to respond to the rubble on fire Friday night and early Saturday morning. City crews will now clean up the debris.
(Photo by Bill Vander Weele)
