The Milledgeville Fire Department normally sprays water over a burning building or a smoldering structure — but Thursday the MFD found a different aspect of the job in downtown Milledgeville.

The MFD spent Thursday using a combination of fire hoses and pressure washers cleaning a four-block length on both sides of Hancock Street to remove dirt and grime that had built up over the years, according to MFD Chief Tom Dietrich.

The Union-Recorder caught up with a slightly damp Dietrich at around 3:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon as firefighters were spraying the sidewalks near the Hancock/Wayne Street intersection.

“The sidewalks were dirty with a lot of gum pressed in. We’re using bleach and degreaser along with pressure washers and hoses. It’s been needing it,” Dietrich said referring to the Hancock Street sidewalk.

City Manager Scott Wood asked the MFD to step in and assist due to the difficulty in removing some of the built up debris, according to Dietrich.

“What we’re doing now is better than anything we’ve used before. We’ve done this all the way from Clarke Street to Jefferson Street on both sides,” Dietrich said. “The 100 block of West Hancock Street seems to have been the worst. It was ground in dirt and grime.”

The MFD began at around 9 a.m. Thursday and stopped at around noon for a short period of time to allow for the lunch crowds to dine at downtown restaurants, Dietrich said.

“We’ve been letting everybody know what we’re doing, and we did stop for awhile to let the lunch crowd go through,” Dietrich said. “Everybody seems really pleased that we’re cleaning the sidewalks.’

One person that seemed pleased was Iona Pendergast, who spends part of her time helping to run Blackbird Coffee on Hancock Street, where the MFD was found finishing the cleaning processes Thursday afternoon.

“I think it’s great. Anything we can do to make it as beautiful as it can be is great,” Pendergast said.

The sidewalk cleanings took place only 16 days prior to the 2008 Sweetwater Festival, scheduled for Oct. 25.

The festival is expected to bring up to 13,000 or more on the same sidewalks that the MFD cleaned Thursday.