I kept seeing a large column of smoke north west of Sullivan, yet could not find out anything about it, finally dismissing it as a possible controlled burn by the state. A little while later, Bourbon and Sullivan Fire Departments were toned out for a barn fire north of Bourbon at the end of Mound Road near Cartwright Road. I arrived at the same time as Bourbon and followed them in, parking off the road, then walking down the lane to the farm…the barn by that time was pretty much consumed by the fire and on the ground, spreading out to other areas of the forest around it and consuming a camper and stacks of tires nearby as well…

…firefighters masked up and then spread out to extinguish hot spots everywhere….

…I turned around and spotted Brent Byrd dumping water from the tanker into the drop tank, he is one of Bourbon`s senior firefighters and responds on many calls, often driving and operating the pumpers or the tankers, and an all around great guy, following in his Dad`s footsteps as a firefighter….

…like his Dad, he leads by example and he sets a great example for the young firefighters with his work ethic, as does Chief Daniel Whatley…a young Chief who sets a great example by pitching in and working right alongside his young firefighters at just about every scene I have photographed….

…Sullivan`s firefighters arrived soon after and pitched in to help mop up the scene, while Jimmy Smythe brought another load of water with one of their tankers….

…I headed back to Sullivan to send the photos to Jim Bartle for the paper`s website, and no sooner pulled up on the exit ramp at the west overpass, when I spotted several grass fires between the overpasses…it looked like the entire highway was on fire…I drove down to the first fire near the intersection of the South Service Road and Fisher Drive and then on down past a larger fire in front of Zephyr….where Jim was assisting firefighters in raking out the flames….

…and then I drove to the other side of the interstate to photograph the other fires…

…a smaller fire in front of Subway and a larger fire in front of Applebees required a Franklin County Deputy to move westbound traffic over…those flames often fanned by the gusty winds, compelled the Deputy to back up a few times before fire crews were able to get to that fire….shorthanded due to assisting Bourbon with the Barn Fire….

..making for a long afternoon and evening for firefighters on the 25th of January…

Shortly after returning from Crestwood with a new camera that I purchased as a backup to my D90, Bourbon was toned out for a residential structure fire on Bechter Road, not far east of Old Argo Road. I looked up the address and took the back way to it, arriving seconds behind Bourbon`s lead pumper and tanker…I decided to park down by the pasture gate so I would not be in the way of any trucks. A friend of the family was pulled over there as well and let me know it was the Hofstetter residence and he was on his way home now…the house sitting back well off the road with a few outbuildings nearby…was well involved with heavy fire blowing out the front and back windows of the home….

Chief Daniel Whatley arrived and took Command of the scene…firefighters had their hands full from their arrival, battling extremely cold temps and a stiff wind blowing in from the south and straight through the house….

…as hoseline crews attacked the fire from outside the front windows, other firefighters scrambled to set up a drop tank for the tanker shuttle….

…you could definitely tell when the wind gusted up, as the flames coming out the front windows doubled and tripled in size….

It was decided that the tankers would enter and exit the pasture gate where I was located, leaving the driveway open….I figured this out soon after when Bourbon`s tanker driver dumped his load in the drop tank and then drove across the field in my direction, returning to the Bourbon station to get another load of water…

…as he departed the scene, Bourbon`s second pumper arrived and parked on the other side from their green pumper…Sullivan`s new pumper 854 then arrived with their tanker and second pumper not far behind…

After Sullivan`s pumpers entered the field by me…I had a horse come trotting down toward the gate, so I shooed him back into the middle of the field and then he turned and headed toward the driveway…one of the family members soon walked down and secured him in the front corner of the pasture near the driveway. Firefighters continued to pour water in through the front windows of the house in an attempt to knock down the intense fire and heat….

Soon after Sullivan`s tanker arrived, more tankers arrived from Leasburg, Cuba, and Beaufort-Leslie. A second alarm was requested at some point by Command, bringing in additional tankers from Owensville, St Clair, and Gerald….

….and soon after a pumper arrived from Steelville…Joe Smart, a good firefighter friend of mine was on board with a young crew and they were assigned to set up a drafting station at a lake just up the road from the residence, to fill the tankers and cut down on the return time for more water….

Lee Eikerman and his son assisted Joe and his young crew by chopping a hole in the thick ice on the pond, while Joe and his crew hooked up the hard suction lines to the truck and fitted it with the right appliances for drafting…Joe also placed his deck gun into operation so as to circulate the water through the pump and keep it from freezing up in the extremely cold temps. The fire was soon brought under control although firefighters remained on scene for some time that afternoon…great job by all there !!