Published: June 25, 2009 09:26 am      

Firefighters did a great job

When a fire broke out at Fulton Elementary School last week, there was no doubt that it was a scary situation. A photographer heading over the bridge toward Fulton soon after the call went out called the Herald newsroom to tell us how smoky it was; that it would be a shock if it was not fully engulfed. We talked to people who saw smoke as far away as the other side of Morrison, Ill., 15 miles to the east. We heard the call go out that summons fire departments throughout the region; some were sent directly to the scene, others no doubt were preparing to move to cover another department’s station.

It turns out the fire was caused by mechanical malfunction in a glue spray gun being used by workers on the school roof. The roof workers attempted to smother the flames but the high-wind speeds caused the fire to spread too quickly and firefighters from Fulton, Albany, Morrison, Cordova and Clinton had to be called. The fire broke out between noon and 12:30 p.m. and was out by 1:15. The steel roof under all the coating confined the fire and nothing actually penetrated it, but there was a lot of water damage.

The night of the fire, Fulton’s police chief mentioned to a Herald staffer at a City Council meeting that local officials jumped very quickly at getting other departments involved.

We believe that was the right thing to do.

Better to sound the alarm to get more help up front and not need it, then to not have enough at the critical point of an emergency.

While it’s too bad that the school sustained damage, and we were sorry to learn that two workers were hurt, the firemen did a great job saving that building.