Late morning on Dec 19th, Cuba Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Flying A Motorsports near Rosati, and struck a second alarm with heavy brown smoke showing on arrival. Sullivan and Bourbon firefighters responded along with several other departments…by the time I got there and positioned on the eastbound shoulder of I-44 to shoot across the interstate, brown smoke was still flowing out the south side doors and Cuba`s ladder was set up at the front of the building and the roofline laddered and a tanker shuttle was established as well….

…and what it turned out to be was one of those pretty signs that lights up and hangs inside the store, caught fire and smoked up the interior real well.

Late afternoon of December 13th, I found out where Marko Turner lives…call came in over the scanner for Bourbon Fire Department to respond to a vehicle fire at the end of Highway WW. I drove out there and saw heavy black smoke the closer I got to the end of the highway, turned around at the end and drove back to a very nice ranch style home and up into the large circle drive to find Marko standing there with a car and motorcycle fully involved behind him….

I thought he was first on the scene, but then he said no, this is his residence..for some reason I thought he lived farther out Licklider Road, this was also one of his cars that was now on fire…had it been closer to the house, his house might have caught fire too…glad for his sake that it didn`t happen. Bourbon showed up seconds later and began to extinguish both fires, and soon after Sullivan showed up to assist…

Stetson Zelch made the initial attack on the car fire…

and here you see Devin Mooney from BFD on the hoseline….

I was taking a nice nap on December 4th when the sound of sirens whizzing by my house woke me up…I jumped up and heard even more sirens approaching and then heard the dispatch on the scanner, Sullivan Fire Department responding on several calls, one of which was a structure fire on the South Service Road west of town. I grabbed my camera and headed out the door, got Onyx secured in the truck, and headed west…saw heavy black smoke toward Bourbon, five miles west of Sullivan, and called Jim Bartle, the newspaper editor I shoot for, and he was already on scene, house and garage fire at 775 Chestnut in Bourbon. From the looks of the smoke and the wind that was really blowing stuff around,  the fire was rocking and rolling…I arrived a few min later, parked on the shoulder and ran up to where Jim was standing and shooting….and yes, one could tell, it was and had been, rocking and rolling…

..it was obvious that it had ripped through the house at least halfway before firefighters stopped its advance, and they were knocking down fire in both east end of the house and the garage next to it when I arrived…..fighting the fire in these photos from Sullivan FD are Corey Rice in the red helmet and Nick White….

…initially they had their hands full, moving back and forth between the fire in the house and the garage as well…..

…when they were hitting the garage flames, one of Bourbon`s firefighters was knocking down fire in the house again…

…soon after, more firefighters showed up from both departments and Cuba and Leasburg arrived as well, to assist in overhauling both buildings to extinguish the fire, as it was a very windy day and no hotspots needed to be left to re-ignite the structures….

…Sullivan also responded with a brush truck as flames spread by wind from the structures to a brushy area behind the garage…great work by all who were there that day !!

I was about to lay down and take a nap on the 19th of September when I heard Sullivan Fire Department get dispatched to a van on fire, on EB I-44 near the 224 mile marker. Onyx and I headed west on the South Service Road and discovered the van even with Ditch Witch, so I parked next to a Crawford County Deputy at the log church next door and walked across the grassy area over to the van on the shoulder, finding the drivers side rear tire on fire extending to the cargo area of the van. Sullivan Fire Pumper 854 had to go west and then turn around at Crawford Electric to return moments later…

I was strongly considering going to bed and watching my Captain America movie about 11 pm on Sept 2nd, when the tones dropped for Sullivan Fire Department and my plans changed fast. They were directed to respond to a report of flames showing to the rear of Walmart, so Onyx and I headed that way, parking near Snap Fitness and walking across the grass to where firefighters were about to spray down a large area of pallets of cardboard boxes that were stacked two high and fully involved…..

…here you see Firefighter Davey Sumpter on the hoseline….

…and then joined by Captain Dave Konys to back him up on the line, waiting for additional firefighters to arrive….

…firefighters had their hands full trying to put enough water on the boxes to extinguish this fire, especially the way they were tightly packed together, similar to fighting and extinguishing round hay bales stacked together…

…the great scene lighting provided by Sullivan PD allowed me to get some great extra photos of the firefighters until the big flashlight could be activated on top of the pumper…

…I left soon after, and as Walmart personnel were moving in with a forklift to separate the pallets of boxes, making things easier on firefighters in terms of putting the fire completely out. 

I was on my way back home from working and mowing at Mom`s house when I smelled smoke as I approached the Elmont Road Bridge over I-44, smelled like a house on fire, however I couldn`t see any smoke in the sky anywhere. As I made the turn to go across the bridge, I heard and then saw Bourbon Engine 60 coming eastbound on I-44 and exit at the overpass in front of Cracker Barrell, turn and come down my way and then take off south on Elmont Road. I followed at a safe distance and saw them turn down behind City Hall…on the way I contacted Jim Bartle and he told me there was a  house fire on Donald Street. I arrived on scene shortly behind Bourbon and found the initial Sullivan crew resting up outside after knocking down the main body of fire inside the older home….

It was obvious there was still some heat and fire inside the house from the front room to the back wall, as I walked around the house to photograph it from a few angles…Chief Eric and Deputy Chief Larry were behind the house keeping an eye on the roofline…

Bourbons crews went inside to help with overhaul and Firefighter Jordan climbed up the ladder at the back of the house to assist crews inside the residence…

Sullivan and Bourbon crews did an excellent job of knocking down the fire and overhauling later, saving the entire structure. 

I heard the tones drop for the Fire Department just after midnight on the 22nd of August…Onyx and I were awake watching tv, so we headed down the Service Road to the west and pulled into the church parking lot behind Chief Eric. I walked over to the eastbound shoulder of I-44 and then down the shoulder to the front of the pumper, talked with Chief Eric and photographed the tractor trailer on its side…

…the crews were walking around the trailer making sure there were no hazards with it, while the driver was already inside the ambulance. I moved over to the other side of the truck for a better view after the crews pointed out the billboard sign in front of the truck….

I had just finished making an appointment to see one of my doctors at 9 am on Thursday morning, when the fire tones dropped for a structure fire at the Reptile Ranch in Stanton…my appointment was at 11 am so I reasoned that I had enough time to run down there and shoot it and return in time for the appointment. I texted Jim Bartle to let him know about it, figuring he was tied up with the preparations for the Meramac Fair this weekend and sure enough he was…he called as I was turning on to eastbound I-44 and I told him I could see heavy smoke in the sky ahead. He said he would get Mark Hilse headed that way too so I could shoot photos and Mark could shoot some video of it so they could get it on the wire soon as breaking news. Five minutes later I parked at the north end of their parking lot, out of the way, and hoofed it down the road to the front of the structure, a long shed back behind a wooden fence with a cabin attached….

…and well involved as you can see in the first image I shot above…only the paid crew and Chief Eric had arrived so far, one hoseline was off and being operated by one firefighter, spraying water on the Pony Express Cabin while the long shed in the background was fully involved as well….

…the single firefighter on the hoseline by the cabin was doing his best to get water on the north end of the shed to cool it down until more firefighters arrived, when a second line was then stretched…

…and Mike Kelly, Battalion Chief at St Clair FPD, arrived just ahead of his pumper and crew, to assist with operations…..the second hoseline was stretched by Firefighter Trevor Woods. I was still shooting from the highway pavement, but quickly stepped down into the grassy ditchline as St Clairs pumper approached from the interstate…..

…Mike assisted Trevor on the hoseline as he prepared to attack the fire from the south side of the fire…

…as Firefighter Ray Enloe was packing up preparing to join the attack. St Clair backed their pumper into the parking lot on the south side and firefighters scrambled to hook up a supply line so that St Clair could feed water to the Sullivan attack pumper as Trevor and Mike began their attack….

Ray came over and took over backing up Trevor on the hoseline a few minutes later…right before the height of the fire….apparently the gate was locked and a halligan tool was requested to open it and allow firefighters better access to the heavy flames, which were increasing strength and lattitude fast….

A couple of additional firefighters joined the fight from St Clair FPD as the fire continued to grow in intensity….

…while St Clairs pumper returned to the Stanton Fire Station for another load of water, and returned shortly just ahead of Bourbon Fire Department arriving with their tanker…

…as the fire grew closer to the main Reptile Ranch building, firefighters positioned the hoseline through a large shrub to gain a better threshold on the attack and to try and prevent the flames from spreading to the main building…

…the attempt to get thru the shrubbery didnt work well, so firefighters then maneuvered around it as best as they could, the access looked pretty tight through there…

…in the meantime, Firefighter Kory Snelson was kept busy helping with the supply lines and operating Pumper 854….

…and the attack on the north end was still a work in progress as well….firefighters even though short handed, were working hard to overcome the intensity and size of the inferno….

…by now the crews on the south end were fighting tremendous heavy flame and thick black clouds of smoke billowing up into the sky with the gasses inside the black smoke re-igniting occasionally high above the main body of fire below….

Crews on the north end made a good effort to hit the main body of fire from their side while the south side firefighters attacked from their side and soon the heavy fire was knocked down, saving the main building from catching fire…

…during that fight, the Pony Express Cabin re-ignited and firefighters once again attacked and knocked it down….

..and while their attention was turned back to the cabin, the fire on the south side intensified once again and the north side firefighters re-joined the fight on the south end again…

..knocking the heavy flames down once again and leaving the north end and middle of the shed burning…

With a few extra firefighters on scene now, Ray and Trevor took a much needed break from firefighting…

…while St Clair and the north side firefighters continued their fight against the flames….

…I walked back to the highway and up to the north side where I saw that firefighters had that end knocked down and under better control as well…

…and soon after, it was looking much better in general…

Franklin County Sheriffs Office responded four deputies and Crawford Electric was on hand to disconnect the electric hazards as well….

Firefighters were continuing to fight the fire as I headed out to get ready for my doctors appointment…

Great Job by all who responded !!  No animals, wildlife, or personnel were injured or lost….only food and property lost by the Reptile Ranch. 

I responded to a report of a vehicle accident on the South Service Road just west of the city limits, there was entrapment as well and I arrived right behind the fire department, as the sun was setting, to find a single Dodge pick up on its side and firefighters working to get the driver and passenger out….

Firefighters and Paramedics worked side by side to remove the windshield and extricate the occupants safely, good teamwork once again by all !!