A charred fire hydrant is an ironic symbol of the fire that destroyed a block of businesses during near-hurricane force winds on February 26, 2010. A fire broke out in the Surf Hotel, and an entire block went up in flames before it could be extinguished. All the destroyed businesses were unoccupied at the time.
Wind gusts as high as 68 MPH were recorded at a nearby airport, just short of hurricane strength, adding to the difficulties that night. Because of the storm, the fire department was stretched very thin, with its crew members already deployed to deal with other local emergencies like downed power lines and transformer fires.
Pathetic
Fire Fighters would have found it very hard especially with the wind gusts on. Any information on the casualties. I wish there should not be any. Most of the fire accidents are due to human negligence. Its so sad to know.
.-= Melvin@Rental Property Management´s last blog ..Otahuhu, Auckland City =-.
There is good news in this tale. There were no casualties. A couple of bumps and bruises with emergency responders, but nothing serious.
not a picture of a fire hydrant that I would expect to see! Now, how do I print it for your dad’s collection?
That’s really sad to think that the business owners lost everything so quickly. I can imagine leaving my shop one day and coming back to charred remains the next time. Not a good thought… :\ I would be really discouraged when it came to rebuilding and reopening, but I guess some people just have the drive to do something like that.