***** Gone

Little did I expect when I wrote this website's description that I'd have a "case in point" immediately. Below I'll quote The Towntalk, Alexandria's newspaper.

"BUNKIE -- Firefighters in downtown Bunkie worked throughout the night Thursday to contain a fire at the McNabb Music Co., but ultimately the 100-year-old building -- and its landmark, historic mural -- were lost.
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The fire began about 6:15 p.m. Thursday in the building located on U.S. Highway 71 South, also known as Main Street, and continued to smolder -- and occasionally blaze -- throughout the day Friday.

The blaze has caused the closure of U.S. 71 North of the junction with La. Highway 115. State officials said traffic is being diverted to La. 115 and La. Highway 181 to Interstate 49.

Bunkie Fire Chief Joey Frank said the cause of the fire is under investigation, but it's possible a power surge in the flooded building started the fire.

"They just turned the electricity on about 5:30 p.m.," Frank said. "It's possible there was water in the building."

Frank said the roof of the two-story building fell, crashing through to the first floor.

A Bunkie landmark

"Well, there's another landmark gone," McNabb Music Co. owner Tommy McNabb remarked.

He waved away The Town Talk, saying he was too addled to speak about the destruction of his 40-year-old business.

Shopkeeper Arthur Lovall owns Purse-a-Nality, a handbag boutique adjacent to McNabb Music Co. His building was the only other building in the block damaged by the fire.

The roof collapsed, and the shared wall disintegrated.

"It's devastating," Lovall said. "I lost everything I had. I put my savings into the shop."

Lovall made the call to the Fire Department after seeing smoke billow out of one of the building's windows.

Sandra Thomas works behind McNabb Music Co. at City Hall and just happened to be passing in front of the building as the fire started.

"I saw one or two little flames coming out of the windows, and I said, 'Oh my God,'" Thomas said. "I couldn't believe it. After a while the walls started crumbling and the ceiling caved in. Just to hear them bricks just crumbling down ..."

Thomas shook her head, knowing what most Bunkie residents know about those historic bricks.

They were the canvas of the city's oldest mural.

"I knew we were going to lose the building," Bunkie Mayor Gerard Moreau said. "When we got here, the fire was out of control. This was the first mural we had in town. You'd see people standing in front of it taking pictures. It's just sad to see it go."
No water shortage

At 11 a.m. Friday, firefighters continued to pump gallon after gallon of water onto the smoldering pile of wood and brick.

"We've probably used 2 million gallons of water since last night," Frank said.

And water is a precious commodity in these days following Hurricane Gustav.

The city has asked its residents to conserve as much water as possible to make up for the large of amount used to extinguish the fire.

"We didn't want to lose water pressure for our residencies, but we wanted to contain the fire at the same time," Moreau said.

Moreau said the city's eight-pump water system has been operated manually since Sunday.

Through the hurricane and the ensuing flood, Bunkie never lost water or sewer service, Moreau said.
Firefighters band together

Though the blaze was devastating, both Moreau and Frank are certain the fire would have spread throughout downtown had the Bunkie Fire Department not had help.

Fire departments from Marksville, Plaucheville, Cottonport, Evergreen and Mansura in Avoyelles Parish, as well as the Cheneyville Volunteer Fire Department in Rapides Parish, rushed to the scene in downtown Bunkie to help their neighbors.

"We were crippled (by Hurricane Gustav), and we were coming back, and were really just set back by this fire," Moreau said. "Without the help of (the participating fire departments), the downtown area of Bunkie would be gone."

I've been up US 71 several times lately and two other buildings are missing. If you know where they are or their fate, please let me know. They are/were in the Cheneyville area.





A write on Cheneyville is coming.
Later, Steve