Haunting Photos of Ice-Covered Buildings

Winter Phenomenon

A fire in Plattsmouth, Neb., a city of 6,400 just south of Omaha, transformed a 132-year-old historic building into an icy marvel after firefighters put out the flames in below-freezing conditions.

The Waterman Opera House building, which dates back to 1882, caught fire on the night of Jan. 2. According to the Omaha World Herald, people were cleared out of the structure, now home to a pub, clinic and apartments, before the blaze grew.

This cold-weather phenomenon, in which the water freezes on contact with a structure, isn’t unique to this Nebraska fire. In January 2013, for example, firefighters battling a five-alarm conflagration at a vacant Chicago warehouse left the entire building blanketed in ice.

Buildings aren’t the only victims either. It can happen to trees, cars, even clothing when the water from the hose sprays for long enough to become the same temperature as what it’s hitting. A fire truck in North Attleboro, Mass., became an ice sculpture after snow and bitter cold mixed with a recent effort to tame a blaze.

What’s happening is actually pretty straightforward, according to John Malin, Ph.D., a physical chemist formerly of the National Science Foundation and the American Chemical Society. Basically, when the water stored underground goes through the fire hose nozzle, some of it evaporates (even when it’s really cold out), some of it aerates (like the process to let some red wines breathe).

This gives it more surface area. So when it hits something colder — say, a building — it freezes, Malin told weather.com. “If the air temperature were warmer [than the water],” he added, “then you wouldn’t see that.”

The freeze doesn’t happen instantaneously, said Kenneth R. Willette of the National Fire Protection Association. “It usually takes some time — 15 minutes or longer — of application for the water to … start to freeze,” Willette, who experienced this during 35 years of fighting fires, told weather.com. “What freezes quickly is the over spray or mist of water that is developed and coats the roads, floors, etc.”

In the case of the Plattsmouth fire, temperatures lingered at or below zero degrees while the firefighters fought the flames, according to The National Weather Service. Fire departments take extreme precautions in those conditions, Willette said, carrying extra clothes, taking frequent breaks, consuming warm liquids.

And “it requires at least one extra alarm of resources — an alarm is usually three engines and a ladder company, 15 firefighters — to be available to rotate crews and maintain safety,” he added.

Despite the challenge of putting out a fire in below-freezing conditions, sometimes the after-effects result in beautiful, icy remains. Click through the gallery to see the haunting photos.

Winter Phenomenon

A mailbox and bench are covered with ice near a building that caught on fire in Plattsmouth, Neb., Friday, Jan. 3, 2014. The water sprayed on it by firefighters froze. 

Winter Phenomenon

The Plattsmouth Chiropractic Center is decorated with icicles after an adjacent building caught on fire in Plattsmouth, Neb., Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, and the water sprayed on it by firefighters froze.

Winter Phenomenon

A street light is covered with icicles near a building that caught on fire in Plattsmouth, Neb., Friday, Jan. 3, 2014. The water sprayed on it by firefighters froze.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

A truck is covered in ice as firefighters help to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013 in Chicago. 

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

A truck and chemical drums are covered with ice as firefighters help to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters help to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

A firefighter helps extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters help to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Parts of a parked semi-tractor truck covered with ice and snow are visible alongside a building Dec. 26, 2000, in Mount Prospect, Ill., that was badly damaged in a fire.

Winter Phenomenon

The rear wheels of a parked semi-tractor truck covered with ice and snow are visible alongside a building Dec. 26, 2000, in Mount Prospect, Ill., that was badly damaged in a fire.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters help to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

A semi-tractor truck covered with ice and snow is parked alongside a building Dec. 26, 2000, in Mount Prospect, Ill., that was badly damaged in a fire.

Winter Phenomenon

Firefighters help to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

A semi-tractor truck covered with ice and snow is parked alongside a building Dec. 26, 2000, in Mount Prospect, Ill., that was badly damaged in a fire.

Winter Phenomenon

Ice hangs from the sign on the landmark Pilgrim Baptist Church after the building burned Friday, Jan. 7, 2006, in Chicago.

Winter Phenomenon

A factory building on East 120th Street, New York, coated with ice after firemen put out a fierce fire, circa 1926.

Winter Phenomenon

Part of the cab, windshield, driver's-side door and two exhaust pipes of a parked semi-tractor truck covered with ice and snow are visible alongside a building Dec. 26, 2000, in Mount Prospect, Ill., that was badly damaged in a fire.

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