WALTHALL, Miss. (WTVA) -- "We heard sirens about 2:45am I think and we looked outside and there it was, you could see the flames just coming out of the top of the building" said Pete Powell a Webster County resident.
It was a wake up call this Webster County residents never imagined they'd receive.
"We would skate and play hide and seek, and kick the can and we'd walk the ledge there was a ledge around the courthouse and we would walk it all the time. We've got you know there's lots and lots of memories, lots of memories. But it's gone it's just gone. A sad... sad day," said Joyce James another resident.
Officials say they received word of the fire at approximately 2:20 Thursday morning and had crews on the scene shortly after.
"A person who had come to the Walthall Post Office to pick up mail called in the fire. Saw the fire and called 911. 911 started paging out the Fire Departments by 2:30 Fire Departments were on the ground and working here," said Jimmy Forrester Public Information Officer for Webster County.
Forrester says he believes the Courthouse which dates back to 1915, is a total loss.
"The courthouse has been here quite a while. It's an old structure and we sure do hate to lose it," Forrester continued.
Officials say firefighters were able to retrieve some records from the Courthouse after the flames were contained.
However, he could say which records were saved.
Officials believe an electrical power strip sparked the fire.
