Incident Report 2

According to the information given with the assignment, the fire in a Sherwin-Williams paint warehouse in Dayton, Ohio in May 1987 didn't seem that damaging at first. However, soon after putting the fire out, the firefighters found that an aquifier was just below the warehouse, and the warehouse was in an industrial area that had previously housed sand and gravel quarries. These quarries had been used for dumping hazardous waste, and it had polluted the water of almost a million people. However, according to the United States Fire Administration, the fire was not put out. This is because the firefighters found that there was an aquifier and so did not put out the fire with water, saving chemical runoff that would have polluted the aquifier. The $32 million warehouse was allowed to burn and was destroyed but an adjoining office building was saved. According to the USFA report, the building was not aquedate in coping with the fire but the firefighters did their job well. The warehouse was insured, thankfully. The fire started when an employee in a electric forklift accidentally spilled flammable paint-related liquids and a spark from the forklift ignited it.
Which version of events is correct, do you think? Did they do the right thing?

Sources are the assignment text, links, and http://www.columbiapaint.com/products.php and http://www.cob.ilstu.edu/profsales/Sherwin.shtml.