 None of the town's 1,159 residents perished from the fire, but the townspeople failed to budget for the needed firefighting equipment and in April 1870, another large fire, which started in a wooden building with a barber shop, destroyed 45 buildings (all but two blocks of the business district), and nearly wiped out the entire town.Despite the second calamitous fire, the town still had not organized a fire department beyond a bucket brigade.In July 1877, after repeated dire warnings, the Council finally authorized the issuance of $3,000 worth of bonds to purchase a fire engine.