A fire breaks out in one Eastern Kentucky community leaving several homeless and thousands without power and phone service.

Emergency crews were still dealing with hot spots as late as noon on Thursday.

Officials say flames broke out around 1:00 A.M. Thursday morning.

Everyone inside the building made it out alright.

The fire destroyed the main telephone and power line for most of the County.

Officials say it could be up 36 hours before all service is completely restored.

The damage at the downtown Hindman building leaves several people without a home, and almost an entire county without vital utilities.

“They are the two most important power poles in county in terms of communication with the county,” Knott Co. Judge Executive Randy Thompson.

“It knocked out a lot of communications for the county in terms of phone and internet,” Judge Thompson says. “Even the radio station we use the phone lines as our audio transmission lines from the studio to the transmitter so we can't tell the people in knott county what's going on.”

Firefighters from all around the county were on the scene all night, doing what they could to save the building.

“Upon arrival, the structure was fully involved,” Denver Pigman of the Hindman Volunteer Fire Department says. “At that point we went to trying to save the next building and other structures. We were on the scene approximately eight hours.”

Pitman says, at this point, the cause of the fire is unknown.

“We don't have any suspicion at this time and we believe it's possibly electrical,” Pigman says.

Judge Thompson says crews are working as fast they can to get everything back up and running.

“They respond quickly and work efficiently and effectively to get all the services they provide back as quickly as possible,” Judge Thompson says.

Judge Thompson says the county can provide emergency shelter to those who lost their home if they need it.

We did try to talk to some of the people who were displaced by the fire, but the communications shutdown also prevented us from finding those affected.