9 different fire departments were called on to help put out a fire at a Tea business Friday morning. It was reported about 2:30am at Palleton of South Dakota, a company that makes pallets. Officials say the blaze was probably burning for about an hour before it was discovered. No one was injured, but the building was a total loss. Fire fighters fought the flames from the outside, saying it was too dangerous to go in.

When the fire broke out, the building was full of wood pallets, making it a very hot fire. That large, hot fire could have pushed Tea's resources to their limits. But firefighters switched gears half way through the blaze to make sure the rest of the town didn't run dry.

During the early hours of the fire fight, crews tapped into city fire hydrants to attack the smokey inferno. But by late morning the strategy changed and a line of trucks were ferrying water from a pond about a thousand feet away. Grant VanRiesen is the Tea Fire Chief. "We just don't want to run anybody out of the city of Tea, out of water, so that was one main concern and so we kept and eye on the levels and we were fine."

Ferrying water to a fire is a common practice in rural areas. And because of the amount of help they received from other departments, VanRiesen says it made more sense to start drawing water from the pond.

Meanwhile, smoke from the fire was visible for miles. And as Jeff Balleweg drove into work in Tea just before 7 this morning, he wasn't sure what he'd find. "smoke, I thought it was this building actually, from Harrisburg. You could see the smoke. I couldn't see the flames until I got closer."

Damage from the fire was limited to just the one building, and again, no one was hurt. As for a cause, right now the Tea Fire Chief says it's just too soon to say what might have started the blaze.