The Water Tower That Ran Out of Water The Day of the Fire
This is the water tower for the town of West Blocton. In the photo, you can see the round black ball near the bottom of the tower, positioned on an exterior framework of some sort. This ball goes up and down, indicating how much water is in the tank, depending on whether it is full or empty or something in between.
The day of the fire, the water tower ran out of water. The fire department was all volunteer, and they did the best they could, but in spite of their best efforts, the town's only fire truck ended up catching on fire and was destroyed.
The volunteer fire department had bad luck all the way around. When they turned on the water, the force of the water broke the hose.
Then the pressure gave out from the water tower, because the water tower ran out of water. On the day of the fire, the tower was only about 1/8th full of water. Why there was so little water in the tower is a question many have asked. The water came from a well, Jerry thinks, so someone should have monitored the tower better and kept the tank full.
The fire department had one bright red Ford truck, and it had no fire-fighting apparatus at all. It only had a stand on the back for firemen to stand on while riding, plus there was space in the truck bed for storing the water hose for putting out fires.
Of course, there had been no fires in the town in ages, so it is possible that everyone involved had gotten complacent and let their vigilence down.
posted by Southern Blogger @ 9:24 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Incorrect--this standing pipe water tank was a 1938 WPA project that replaced wooden tanks that were in place during the July 1927 fire. The record does not reflect that the old wooden structures ran out of water. The water level marker at bottom shows that this tank is almost full--the interior float is at top of the structure.Three additional tanks now serve West Blocton and outlying communities.
Our source says there were three memorable things about the fire: the wooden water tank ran out of water, the firehose split when it was attached to the fire hydrant and the water was turned on, and the fire truck itself caught fire! What a day. Thanks for your comment as well. Please let us know your connection to West Blocton and do you still live there?
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