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Downtown Watertown on fire
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 9:49 pm
by nystate
12 Departments have responded so far, with the fire hitting about 3 buildings so far, and it is still not under control. Winds are gusting in the 30-40 mph range, which is not helping firefighters out any. I am fairly close to the fire (a few blocks away) but I can't see anyting as of yet. More info as I get it...
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 9:52 pm
by azskyman
Stay safe NYState. Keep us posted.
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 10:12 pm
by Josephine96
Yes stay safe NYstate.. Sounds like something bad developing there..
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 10:26 pm
by Colin
Stay safe and keep us posted! :o
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 11:25 pm
by nystate
Update:
The firs is still not under control, although they think that they can prevent it from spreading any more. One firefighter has been injured so far, it sounds minor. A few minutes ago I heard ambulance sirens and our emergency sirens (used for terrorism drills, severe wx, etc) go off, and I heard a large rumbling sound. This fire (so far) has destroyed part of the heart of downtown Watertown, and with the City Council voting a few days ago to demolish much of the rest due to possible structural failure, the future looks bleak for the downtown area.
Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2004 11:39 pm
by CajunMama
Nystate...how horrible....i do hope they can contain the fire. Hopefully after the fire is out, your downtown can rise from the ashes and become a prosperous business area again.
Please continue to keep us updated.
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 12:32 am
by furluvcats
Sounds really bad...I'm talking to my friend who lives on base in Watertown and she isn't even aware of the fire...how far is the fire from the base NYSTATE?
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 9:10 am
by nystate
furluvcats wrote:Sounds really bad...I'm talking to my friend who lives on base in Watertown and she isn't even aware of the fire...how far is the fire from the base NYSTATE?
The base (I'm assuming she's on Fort Drum) is about 4 miles north of downtown. However, Fort Drum sent its fire dept. to help fight the fire, so she may or may not have noticed that. The good news is that now the fire is out, and even though 3 businesses were destroyed, the rest of the block was saved by the more than 150 firefighters that came to fight it. No major injuries have been reported. I guess we're just going to have to see what happens next downtown...
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 9:40 am
by Colin
Well, I'm glad that it didn't spread further...but it may take a while for Watertown to get back to normal.

Thanks to the firefighters for their hard work, or this could've been much worse.
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 10:20 am
by nystate
Looks like I spoke too soon. Local news is reporting that the fire is still burning, more than 12 hours after it started, and that it may burn for a few more hours before they finally have it under control...
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 10:25 am
by Stephanie
I'm sorry to hear about the fire nystate.

Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 10:27 pm
by stormraiser
NYState, how's it going? I assume it is under control but could only find an article in the Watertown Daily news site, but I didn't want to sign up to subscribe in order to read one article.
Hope all is well.
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 10:33 pm
by Josephine96
Me too.. Hope things are OK up there
Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 9:18 am
by nystate
NYState, how's it going? I assume it is under control but could only find an article in the Watertown Daily news site, but I didn't want to sign up to subscribe in order to read one article.
Hope all is well.
The fire was finally put out yesterday morning. Two businesses were gutted, and two more were severely damaged. The FD did a great job keeping it contained...people here are breathing a sigh of relief.
Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 1:27 pm
by JCT777
I am glad that the fire was put out. I hope there were no injuries or deaths.