ST. PETER, Ill. — An early Sunday morning fire destroyed four downtown St. Peter buildings and knocked power out for more than a thousand Ameren customers in multiple communities.

St. Peter firefighters responded around 1 a.m. Sunday to the two-story buildings on the south side of Main Street, or State Route 185.

Heavy winds, freezing water, and the proximity of the buildings to one another made fighting the blaze difficult for firefighters.

St. Peter received mutual aid from Vandalia, Farina, Kinmundy-Alma, Patoka, Brownstown and St. Elmo fire departments.

Eventually, the Village of St. Peter ran out of water, which made battling the fire even more difficult and required firefighters to begin hauling water to the scene.

The businesses destroyed include plumbing, a doll, and sign businesses. Firefighters were able to keep flames away from a hunting company and an adjoining building.

The heat from the fire was reportedly so hot it broke out windows in buildings across the street.

More than 1,300 Ameren Illinois customers were without power in St. Peter, Kinmundy, Farina, Alma, Laclede, Edgewood and Iola. The outages were primarily due to a main feeder line that went down in St. Peter.

Ameren restored power to all but 122 customers within an hour. Warming centers were in place for those in need.