Effective response keeps overnight fire from spreading

Our sympathies go out to those who lost property in Thursday night's garage fire, but we're thankful no one was seriously injured, and grateful to everyone who spent the night keeping the rest of us and our property safe.

City Editor Bruce Baker's story this week revealed some of the complexities of keeping the city supplied with water, especially when a lot of it is needed to fight a fire, as was the case overnight.

Connie Jo Discoe, our chief photographer, was on scene for several hours Thursday night and Friday morning for the fire on West Fourth Street, repeating the effort it took to cover the fire which destroyed Fuller's Family Restaurant, as well as the effort it took to reopen the cafe quickly in its new location on Norris Avenue south of B Street.

We're just the observers, of course, passing on photos and stories about the people who deal with emergencies like Thursday night's fires: 23 McCook city firefighters, most of them volunteers; the Red Willow Western Fire Department which responded as well; Nebraska Public Power District, which quickly cut power at the scene and restored as quickly as possible to the 1,219 customers who were left without lights and air conditioning until shortly after 2 a.m.; SourceGas crews who responded to keep natural gas from igniting, McCook Police, Red Willow County and Nebraska State Patrol officers who helped control traffic and onlookers around the scene, EMS and paramedics and others we've probably forgotten to mention.

Temperatures hit a record 105 in McCook on Thursday, along with high humidity, so hot weather precautions are still in order for this long Labor Day weekend, from the football players Friday night to the weekend warriors tackling household projects and recreationalists heading to the lakes for one last summertime outing.