Historical Buildings Gone...A Small Town's Story of Loss

I know that my fellow Kansan reader's have probably heard this already but our county was dealt a real blow yesterday afternoon when a gas line exploded and sparked a chain of fires that have ended with a horrible aftermath...

Yesterday afternoon in the small town of Anthony, KS which is about 15 miles from me a trash truck was traveling down an alley way behind a strip of business's when all of the sudden there was an explosion that threw a young man riding on the back of the truck a great distance where he landed with multiple injuries...The young man is around 20 yrs old and from what I understand he has suffered multiple broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken pelvic bone, and many more breaks I believe...I at first didn't think he had suffered any burns but have been told different today, I was told he has 3rd degree burns. He is currently in the big city hospital in serious condition...

This explosion sparked a fire that spread through and destroyed 5 historic buildings...I guess probably none of you have ever seen this quaint town but man it's gorgeous with such historical beauty, there are few towns left that have original buildings and are as well kept as Anthony has been...In those buildings we lost some great business's, one being a store called Mueller Brothers which was originally like a men's suit store that has evolved into a great all around clothing and accessories store. They had been in business for 45 yrs, and had plans of retiring soon and passing the business on. The building that housed their store was 102 yrs old...Another loss was the Wellness Center which was a workout facility that got great use from the locals. Then we lost the Learning Center which is the school for kids who do not attend high school but want to continue their education. Then there is a store called Video Max and this is where the fire started but it was quickly put out so the front of their store is not burned from what I understand but I'm sure their merchandise is damaged none the less. Another building loss was what used to be an appliance store. Oh just so much more...

View from down the road...



Fire ravaging the buildings...



We had firefighters from 7 surrounding cities in to help with the blaze but it burned into the night before it was finally put out for good. We had a total of 9 firefighters taken to the hospital for different reasons most I think were heat exhaustion, and I believe all but 2 were released after a few hours. I have not heard the status on the remaining 2.

This such such a loss, this town will never be the same...It's crazy how things change in the blink of an eye...

Here is a slideshow of some of the pictures of the fire...