Fire Chief Havlik gives City Council first-hand account of Sinclair fire; says it could burn for up to a week

Fire Chief Steve Havlik told the City Council last night that it could take “up to a week before we can control the fire” that started Tuesday at the former Sinclair packinghouse site south of the downtown.

Havlik was at the council meeting to present the Fire Department's budget plans for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2010, but he asked and the council was eager for an update on the Sinclair fire.

Havlik said the biggest problem has been getting water directly on what is burning, which includes pallets of old corn seed that were being stored inside. Getting at the fire has required knocking down walls, which demolition contractor D.W. Zinser Co., from nearby Walford, is doing.

Havlik said part of the problem is the 12-to-14-foot basement under much of the burning building, which must be filled in as the demolition and the attack of the fire proceeds. “Much of the fire is in the basement,” he said.

The chief estimated that the department had put 2 million gallons of water on the fire as of last night.

Mayor-elect Ron Corbett asked Havlik if there had been any consideration given to calling in the National Guard to help.

Havlik noted that Zinser has seven or eight pieces of heavy equipment in the mix, and he said it wasn't really possible to get any additional equipment near where the work needs to be done.

City Manager Jim Prosser said the city also had talked to the Army Corps of Engineers, but its representatives suggested that the city was in as good a position to tackle the fire as anyone.

Havlik said the weather forecast calls for the wind to shift from the north on Friday, which will require the department to move and restage its equipment.

Late last night, Fire Department spokesman Greg Buelow noted that burst of fire at the site significantly damaged the northeast corner of the building and might help in reducing the number of days the fire will burn.