While Sandy Hook, Pine Burr and Hub was receiving heavy damage from Sunday’s tornado and downtown Columbia was flooding, Columbia Fire Department’s Station 2 was taking on water damage as well.
Assistant Chief Lyle Berard said there was so much rain at one time that there was nowhere for it to go but on top of them in the station. The department isn’t exactly sure how the water got in, but the insurance adjustor speculated that the gutters got so backed up because of how fast the rain came that they overflowed into the station.
“It was pouring down from the ceiling, behind the walls and everywhere really,” Berard said.
Berard said he thinks the tin roof may have been slightly lifted by high winds, letting the water in. Less than 100 yards away, a shed owned by Columbia High School and used by the baseball program was ripped apart by the severe weather.
“(The shed) actually looks like a tree fell in there, but there was no tree. I think a good, straight-line wind came in, and whenever that happened it was enough that it picked our tin roof up just enough for the water to get under there,” he guessed. “It overran the gutters and everything. It was raining so hard that it was just unreal. It was just a perfect scenario.”
A-Shift Captain Nathan Guy was in the department when it started to take on water, and he first noticed a stream of water pouring in where the trucks are kept. When they went inside into the kitchen area, he said water was coming down from the ceiling and along the walls so they knew it was coming through on the second floor as well.
“The whole ceiling was coming down (on the second floor),” he said. “The hail was beating this station to death.”
The firefighters on duty had to work fast to get all of their computers and electronics to safe places and were able to save most of the possessions. But every room in the station took water damage, and two beds and a TV were total losses. While they were trying to do damage control in the station, they were called downtown to help with the flooding on Main and Second streets so they had to work quickly.
Since Monday the department has been working to rip out all of the damaged walls, ceiling and insulation. At this time, Berard said they’re not sure how much the insurance will cover.
