(HUTCHINSON, Kan.) — "We could have lost a half a block of buildings because of this," Hutchinson Fire Battalion Chief Darin Gehring says.
Fortunately, quick action by firefighters kept a burning dumpster from engulfing everything around it--but not before an awning, part of the roof, electrical lines and gas meters were incinerated.
The dumpster belongs to Brad Easter's pool business. Someone noticed it on fire early Sunday morning.
"I think what we're going to try to do is move the dumpster and put steel lids on top that we can lock at night," Easter says.
Next door is the Hutchinson Recreation Commission's office which was filled with smoke when firefighters arrived.
"If they hadn't gotten to it when they did, because all the buildings are tied so closely together, it could have done some real serious, serious damage," Commission director Tom Cook says.
