Garage destroyed, engine damaged

McCook, Nebraska, firefighters douse hot spots in what's left of the garage at 1102 W. Fourth after a middle-of-the-night fire destroyed it and its contents. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Firefighters from the City of McCook, Nebraska, and the Red Willow Western Rural Fire Department were busy through the early morning hours today.

McCook firefighters responded to several 911 calls to find the garage at 1102 W. Fourth fully engulfed and the roof caving in within minutes of receiving the first call at 1:28 a.m. and arriving on the scene at 1:32 a.m.

Fire chief Marc Harpham said the garage and its contents were destroyed. The fire also damaged two cars parked beside the garage and the vinyl siding on a carport and shed belonging to the neighbor across the alley to the west.

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette

The garage is owned by Joseph Schnase.

Harpham said he has preliminarily set losses and damages at $20,000.

A Nebraska deputy fire marshal is assisting the McCook department to determine the cause of the fire, which is still under investigation, Harpham said.

At 3:30 a.m., Red Willow Western rural firefighters responded to a fire in a BNSF locomotive east of McCook. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette)

Firefighters returned to the fire station at 4:45 a.m.

Fourteen firefighters, a pumper truck, ladder truck, ambulance and Harpham's vehicle responded to the fire.

Rural firefighters were called out at about 3:30 a.m., today, to a fire in a Burlington Northern Santa Fe pusher engine locomotive located on the tracks about 1 1/2 miles east of McCook and south of Old Highway 6 and the Nebraska Department of Roads maintenance shop.

Fire chief Bill Elliott reported only minor damage to the locomotive.