PAWNEE CITY, NE - A fire that started at a laundromat in Pawnee City spread to the apartments on the second floor, destroying everything inside, leaving the owner and the people who lived there with nothing.
“I'm just devastated,” said Owner Jerrry Graham with tears in his eyes. The tenants who lived at the apartments, a dad with his kids and another man, Danny Walker, who lived across the hall lost all of their belongings.
“There ain't nothing worth salvaging in my apartment. I couldn't get to it if I wanted to,” said Walker.
The fire was reported around 7:15 Sunday night at the laundromat near 6th and G Streets in Pawnee City.
Graham took 10/11 News inside to see the damage, the roof on Walker's apartment caved in. Everything inside is destroyed, wet and covered in debris. Across the hall, bunk beds, furniture and tables are visible but covered with isolation. At the laundromat, clothes sit inside a dryer, Graham said a woman was there before the fire drying her clothes and when she came back the place was on fire.
Photo Courtesy: 10/11 News
Graham said what really upsets him, is that he collects antiques and furnishes his apartments with nice stuff. The building next door to the laundromat has water damage, which is where he stored some of his antiques. In the back of the laundromat, there was more antiques, and all of it is now destroyed, he said.
Walker says he had a lot of art work inside his apartment, a flat screen TV, his cellphone and a new stereo system. He says he moved to Pawnee City to have a peaceful life and to get away from drugs and now everything is gone.
Walker said he was eating dinner when his neighbor, also named Danny, knocked on his door and alerted him about the fire. He says when he walked down the stairs, he could feel the heat from the fire inside the laundromat. “If I would've been asleep on my meds, and Danny's wouldn't have been home, I would've died,” said Walker.
Both Graham and Walker think the fire is suspicious, the State Fire Marshal is currently investigating the cause. Graham said the fire started on a table cloth. He says he asked why didn't Danny, with the kids, use the fire extinguisher to try to put out the fire, Danny said it was not there. Graham said in the last year he's had issues with vandalism at the laundromat.
Photo Courtesy: 10/11 News
The Pawnee City Fire Chief, John Vetrovsky, says his concern when he arrived on scene was the fire spreading to the other buildings on the street.
“I thought we had a major fire, I was concerned about the rest of the block, it could've easily taken out the whole half block.” Chief Vetrovsky credits his crew along with the eight others that came out to help and their quick work.
Chief Vetrovsky spent all night out at the scene of the fire. “I just don't want to leave my men alone,” he said. Crews remained on scene on Monday to check for hot spots, due to the roof in Walker's apartment caving in. Chief Vetrovsky says they can't get to the areas underneath all the debris.
According to a Press Release, the Pawnee City Fire Department was assisted by Burchard Fire, Steinauer Fire, Table Rock Fire, DuBois Fire, Tecumseh Fire and Falls City Fire Departments. Volunteer EMTs were also on scene.
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