AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Firefighters were still on the scene Wednesday of the huge blaze that burned in east Amarillo Tuesday night. Although no injuries were reported due to the fire, officials say it was a dangerous scene made worse by one large factor -- the onlookers.
"There were a lot of onlookers that came by, even stopping on the interstate just to see what was going on and that does cause problems for us," said Captain Brent Clark with the Amarillo Fire Department. "Rotating our crews in and out and getting additional crews into the scene."
There were reports of traffic congestion around 3007 S. Pierce, where the fire occurred. There were even reports of people coming to a complete stop on I-27 just to get a look at the action and snap a few pictures. Pictures and videos of course, that Corporal Jerry Neufeld with the Amarillo Police Department believes will be, no doubt, directly uploaded to the internet.
"Everybody is a quote 'journalist' because they have an iPhone and a smartphone where they can take video and they can post straight to the internet or twitter or something like that," said Corporal Neufeld.
But not only is it frustrating to emergency crews with that many people crowding the scene, Corporal Neufeld said, it's also very dangerous.
"The hazards you're putting other people in because you want to spend 15 seconds looking at a fire?", said Neufeld. "They could have medical emergencies, we've got to get the EMS in there. If we're blocking those people from doing their job, I mean, you're really putting your community at risk."
Local citizen, Chandice Cook, tried to help law enforcement direct traffic away from the scene and said she saw several near collisions.
"They were being hateful trying to go that way so they could look," said Cook. "We kept telling them to go the other way. There was a lot, a lot of traffic. People were getting angry and trying to cut in front of other people and there was lots of honking and near accidents."
In addition to no injuries due to the fire, none were reported because of traffic congestion either. However, the wallets of rubberneckers might face injury if they actually impede emergency responders from getting to the scene.
"If there's a vehicle literally impeding, as in driving across a fire hose or stopping so that a fire truck can't get through, emergency vehicles can't get through, sure there's a violation there," added Corporal Neufeld, "We'll cite that person if we need to, we'll impound a vehicle if it comes to that point."
Eventually, the gawkers fizzled out even though the fire hadn't. Firefighters remained on scene throughout Wednesday, spraying the building down (or what's left of it) with water trying to cool down any remaining hot spots. Officials tell Pronews 7 the scene is still too hot to begin the investigation. The actual cause of the fire remains unknown.
