Major fire destroys half of a block of downtown Rensselaer

A fire on Sunday afternoon destroyed the half block of downtown along Kellner Street that contained the old Longs Gift Shop building and the Town Mall, once a Sears store. The Rensselaer Republican shared some footage on Facebook.

I did not arrive on the scene until the flames had been controlled but the firefighters from many departments will be working the site for hours into the night.

 Below is a closer look at firemen pouring water into Serenity Health and Wellness, one of two businesses in the old Longs building. The other was next door, a hair salon called the Honey Comb.

 There was a second aerial truck pouring water on the Town Mall. Among the businesses and offices there were two lawyers, another hair salon, a hearing aid place, Express One, Dr Moyer's optometrist office, a swimming pool supply business, and the offices of Jasper County Economic Development Organization. There was also rented storage in the building and a number of murals on its walls.

Another view of the aerial truck.

A view much like the one above but with a better view of the various water streams and a hint of how much damage had been done.

Below is another view of the first aerial truck. Every once in a while some flames would shoot up.

 The whole area was taped off and people were not allowed to get close. Below is a view from Potawatomie Park of two trucks that were pumping water from the river. There were large hoses that took it to the trucks putting water on the fire.

Maybe tomorrow we will be able to see just how much damage was done.

UPDATE: One more picture that I meant to put in but I overlooked it.

I feel especially bad for any of the tenants that had documents or data destroyed that was not backed up.