Building burns

The DSHS (Dept of Social and Health Services) building burned on Friday. It looks to be completely gone. You can see through the building - what is left of it - to the other side. It was probably empty of people, thankfully, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. It went up quickly. Located near the center of town, and across the street from the hospital, it received a lot of attention from the firefighters. The first sign we had was when the power went out - as if a switch was thrown. We could see the great column of smoke from our house. The DSHS building is next to the PUD (Public Utility District) warehouse. Only part of the town lost power, and it came back fairly soon - meanwhile, we had breakfast out.
In a small town, a building burning like this is rare, since there are so few commercial buildings.
Fire is especially feared here, since we are surrounded by forest, and downtown is compact .
These smaller pictures are of a couple of the engines that responded, and a piece of the blackened frame - what little is left. You can click on the pictures to make them larger.

Firetruck Head-On

This is a closer shot of the antique firetruck in Beaver. We just liked the way it looked.

Nose to nose in Beaver

Just 6 miles north of Forks, on the way to "town" but still in the West End, there is a little place called Beaver. It consists of a small antique store, a small grocery store/gas station, a baseball field/park, a post office, fire department, lumber mill, the residents, of course, and Lake Pleasant - a pretty little lake with some scenic and calm canoeing. This carving and the old fire truck are alongside the antique store. The beaver is about five feet long, and fun to see.

I almost chose this sign for the September theme day of street lights/signs.