Fire destroys century-old building in Poplar Bluff, taxes water system

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Firefighters used more than 2 million gallons of water in four hours Wednesday as they attempted to control a downtown fire that destroyed a century-old building in the heart of Poplar Bluff.

The amount is nearly as much as the entire city of 17,000 residents used in the 24 hours before the fire.

By the end of Wednesday, the fire department had used 2.5 million gallons of water, said fire chief Ralph Stucker. It is the most needed to put out a fire in the city, where the majority require less than 5,000 gallons, Stucker said.

The city used 2.6 million gallons of water Tuesday, said municipal utilities general manager Bill Bach.

Firefighters were pushed out of the building because the area above the second floor ceiling quickly was engulfed in flames, Stucker said.

“If we can’t get to something, that’s when we have to do a defensive attack,” he said. “We were basically trying to drown it.”

Firefighters battle a blaze Wednesday in downtown Poplar Bluff, Missouri.Donna Farley ~ Daily American Republic

The department continued putting water on the fire until nearly 9 p.m.

It reduced its water usage after the roof caved in during the afternoon and provided more direct access to the fire.

That citywide total had reached nearly 4.6 million gallons by the end of Wednesday, which may be a peak usage for the city, Bach said.

Firefighters used three ladder trucks and three ground lines at the height of the fire, which began shortly before 10:30 a.m.

The trucks sprayed an estimated 8,000 gallons per minute on the two-story structure throughout much of the morning, as firefighters tried to keep the blaze from spreading to nearby businesses.

Smoke engulfed firefighters and businesses for more than a block at times, as responders dealt with shifting winds.

The thick, white smoke obscured everything at times between the Vine Street and Broadway building and Rodgers’ Theatre at the corner of Pine Street and Broadway.

At 2:30 p.m., city utility workers asked the fire department to reduce its usage to less than 3,000 gallons a minute if it was safe to do so, Bach said.

The city can produce drinking water at 4,000 gallons per minute, he said.

“Everything we were making, (they) were putting back out,” Bach said.

When the city’s reserve tanks drop too low, the utility is required to issue a boil-water advisory, Bach said.

While there was no danger of running out of drinking water, the utility wanted to avoid the advisory if possible, he said.

The city has five elevated water storage tanks that can hold 3.75 million gallons. Another 500,000 is held on site at the plant in addition to what the city can produce, Bach said.

The water plant has a maximum production of 6.4 million gallons per day.

The city has had peak usage topping 4.3 million gallons a day a few times this summer, Bach said.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, Mo.