100-year-old water system in Old Bisbee kept city from getting better pressure on fire

As a fire raged in historic Bisbee Wednesday night, gutting the inside of two historic storefronts, officials said the city's antiquated fire suppression system made it challenging to efficiently contain the fire.

The fire occurred in Old Bisbee on Main Street, the city's primary tourist and commercial corridor filled with boutiques, art galleries and eateries. For four years, the city has turned to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for help to upgrade the plumbing infrastructure in Old Bisbee, with no luck.

With virtually no space between storefronts, containing the fire was of the utmost importance. Although the Bisbee Fire Department and other responding agencies were able to contain the blaze, it took them longer than desired with the area's 100-year-old water lines, said City Manager Stephen Pauken.

"I saw it last night. We were able to get water on the fire, but it wasn't like we wanted," he said.

An upgraded water system would result in more water pressure, and water flow, and higher capacity, Pauken said, adding it would have helped responding agencies fight the fire faster.

On Wednesday night, Pauken said he saw around a dozen fire trucks lined up on Main Street, with six agencies assisting. Once the Douglas Fire Department arrived with a ladder fire truck, firefighters were able to put out the fire much faster. Douglas is located 25 miles southeast of Bisbee.

Officials were unsure of the estimated damage and cost of fighting the fire, as buildings were still smoldering Thursday.

Bisbee faces challenges to fund water system upgrades

In addition to upgrading the plumbing infrastructure in Old Bisbee. Pauken said the city would also like to have a ladder truck, but it remains unaffordable for such a small community.

"These events normally bring out weaknesses in your infrastructure," Pauken said. "And for the last four years, we have been trying to get funding from federal agencies, especially in the post-Covid period where there's a lot of money available."

The city applied four times for the USDA grant in conjunction with the Arizona Water Company, a water utility company in Bisbee, officials said. A USDA spokesperson could not be reached Thursday afternoon.

Despite having an antiquated water system, Pauken said the impact of the blaze could have been worse and spread up and down the entire historic corridor.

The calm weather worked in the city's favor, as the night had cool temperatures and no wind, he said.

Although the city has not yet determined the cause of the fire, part of the area will likely have to be rebuilt, Pauken said.

"There's a big crack right between the two buildings and it's leaning out," he said pointing at one of the two buildings impacted by the fire.

Town rallies around emergency responders

Bisbee Mayor Ken Budge said the town is rallying behind the personnel responding to the fire.

On Thursday morning, Cafe Roka, a restaurant across the street from where the fire occurred, was feeding public works personnel and others late Thursday morning.

"That's what I love about this town because we are so eclectic in respect of whether you're an old miner, or an old hippie or one of the new entrepreneurs. Everybody works together for the better," Budge said.

When business owner Doc Dougherty of Doc's Dyes heard about the fire on local Facebook Groups Wednesday night, he was concerned the fire would spread down Main Street but had faith in the city's fire department.

"We were concerned about it spreading. These are all mom-and-pop businesses ... And we all live and work here. What impacts one impacts us all to a degree," Dougherty said. "We were concerned last night, but of course we do have a good fire department."

City officials said they want to open nearby restaurants and businesses as soon as possible, as tourism is one of the city's primary economic drivers and February is in the middle of tourist season.

The city will block off the affected area in such a way that many of the nearby businesses can reopen, Pauken said.

"We are open for business. If you were planning to come to Bisbee this weekend, please come," he said.

Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republic’s coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Bisbee's antiquated water system made fighting fire a challenge