PAWNEE, Ill. (WAND) – Fire crews are responding to a large fire at a downtown Pawnee bar, according to the city.

Copperhead Bar, along with several other businesses, were deemed a total loss in a fire that went from noon until evening on Tuesday in downtown Pawnee.  

The first building to catch fire--Copperhead Bar--has been open less than a year. 

"COVID-19 hit them and they weren't able to open... [then] they got a little bit of experience of being open and now this devastating [fire]," said Jarrod Smith, a Pawnee resident who owns several businesses next to Copperhead that were affected by the fire. 

Now, the owner has to start again from scratch.  

"I really feel terrible for them because...you work so hard for something and this takes it away, " Smith said. 

Jarrod knows the pain of rebuilding firsthand. His restaurant and bar, Locals, which was across the street, burned down in May 2017. Today, a couple more of his businesses burned on the same strip as Copperhead. He describes the feeling as deja vu. 

Water from Pawnee wasn't enough to contain the blaze. 

"Lots of water you can see. I mean, we got what at least a dozen agencies here, I think 12 or 13 tankers and thousands and thousands of gallons of water," said Shawn Burnley, fire chief in Pawnee.

Water was transported from all over Central Illinois. The Village of Pawnee even issued a boil order in response to the loss. 

"I just appreciate everybody's help. I mean, We can't do without them," Burnley said.