Saturday evening, May 9th, 2020, Sullivan Fire Department was dispatched to a well involved first alarm residential structure fire around 9 pm, located on the North Service Road a quarter mile past the Sullivan Vetrinary Clinic. Call came in as flames showing at the rear of the house, called in by passing motorists on I-44…when I arrived, it was fully involved front to back and through the roof. Saint Clair and Bourbon Fire Districts were dispatched for the assist as well. 

Fires 2020-0509 Residential Structure Fire N Serv Rd E of Vet Hospital AVI 05

…there were live power lines down on the highway side at the back of the house, Crawford Electric had a crew on the way to disarm them and fire crews gave a wide berth while fighting the fire from both sides of the house…I told Chief Eric, that at one time, this had been quite a pretty home and sitting off the service road in a field, I am sure the residents saw a lot of wildlife there….it had been vacant for some time tho…

…crews deployed a larger handline to the south side of the house and Beau Kick operated the nozzle on it briefly from there…

Fires 2020=0509 2nd Video Residential Structure Fire N Serv Rd E of Vet Hosp AVI 16

…I believe the intent was to bounce the stream off the roof/ceiling down into the flames below, they were yelling at him that there was no roof in which to do that, so he shut the line down for a while, and then someone started spraying it again….

Fires 2020-0509 3rd Video Resid Structure Fire N Serv Rd E of Vet Hosp

I shot quite a few videos of this fire as it was tough to move around either side with high weeds and trees and live power line hazards as well…I always do my best to stay out of their way, as well…

Fires 2020-0509 4th Video Resid Structure Fire N Serv Rd E of Vet Hosp AVI 34

Firefighters were having a lot of trouble entering the structure from the front entryway due to the amount of roofing that fell in before their arrival…they decided to cut their way in…

Fires 2020-0509 Sixth Video Resid Structure Fire N Serv Rd E of Vet Hosp AVI 49

…the video above shows Bourbon firefighters arriving to help….and the next video shows how they decided to cut the main support beam above the front wall and then pull it down to get inside and fully extinguish the fire….

Fires 2020-0509 7th Video Resid Structure Fire N Serv Rd E of Vet Hosp AVI 50

…and after that it was a matter of wading in and mopping up…

..I am sure firefighters were on scene for some time after, making sure it was completely out before leaving the scene…Saint Clair responded a pumper with manpower and their Super Tanker as well. 

I drove down to the Stanton westbound exit to photograph an suv on fire on Friday, April 24th around 3 pm…the call came in as an suv on fire and when I got close, it was so covered in smoke that I thought it was a Jeep suv, however later found out after posting photos on my FB page, friends said it was a Ford Escape. As I pulled down the Service Road, there was a pickup pulled over and the driver trying to console a young female who was quite upset about her suv catching fire…I drove past and turned around to capture Sullivan Fire Department Pumper 854 with Captain Ray Enloe and his crew arriving.

John Strothcamp was driving and pulled down the exit ramp to approach the suv…

Fires 2020-0424 SUV Jeep Stanton WB Off Ramp AVI 100

Firefighters started masking up and Drew Richards pulled a pre-connect hoseline…

..and once Drew had the line stretched, he put his air tank and mask on as well…

…and then began their attack….

Fires 2020-0424 SUV Jeep Fire Stanton WB Off Ramp AVI 113

Fires 2020-0424 SUV Jeep Fire Stanton WB Off Ramp AVI 114

Thanks to the Carla and Darla Dunne, as well as Brian Beckett for the correction regarding the make and model on the suv. Much appreciated. 🙂

Normally, I don`t cover brush fires unless there is something more to them…on Sunday afternoon, February 23rd, I heard Ray Enloe call Washco and ask for a tanker to be dispatched to the call, so I drove over to see what was going on. Turns out someone tossed a cigarette out of their vehicle on East West Road and it took off burning up a vacant lot between two residences, getting up close enough to one residence to inflict quite a bit of damage to the vinyl siding, and also consumed a brush pile in the lot….

…that is firefighter Jacob Dace on the fire hose below….

…he did a good job making sure that fire didn`t get going again. 

Early Wednesday morning February 19th, on my day off that week, I heard Sullivan PD talking about a vehicle on fire, but didn`t hear where, then Washco dispatched it and they have been having alot of radio problems lately, so again did not catch the location during the dispatch, so had to wait til 854 went responding to get the location, Counts Auto Body and that is only about six blocks from me, so I arrived just ahead of 854 to find that Autobody employees had the fire knocked down with a garden hose…good job guys…as 854 was about to turn into the back of the business….

Fires 2020-0219 Red SUV at Jerry Counts Autobody

…leaving little work for Sullivan firefighters to do…pop the hood and extinguish the fire is all they had to do….as the sun was coming up….

…they had more help than they knew what to do with…shift change between Dave Konys` crew and Ray Enloe`s crew, so two extra firefighters were on scene, plus two police officers, and then the crew from Counts Auto Body…I stuck around to watch them pop the hood, that took awhile, with firefighter Drew Richards doing much of the work and Captain Ray received the accolades…jokingly, but no worries Drew, everyone there knows who did much of the hard work, buddy…

Fires 2020-0219 Red SUV at Jerry Counts Auto Body 2

I hadn`t been home from work at Walmart very long on Tuesday, February 11th, 2020, when I heard tones drop for Bourbon Fire Department, for a car fire inside the car wash at Bourbon Pump Handle, so I grabbed my camera and drove up there. Figured if it was inside the car wash, it should have been toned as a structure fire instead…Sullivan Fire Department was toned to assist them shortly after, and I arrived just ahead of the Bourbon Fire Department, to find a passenger car fully involved in the engine compartment, parked at an angle right behind the main building but short of the car wash building entrance….

Fires 2020-0211 Car Fire Bourbon Mobil Station & Carwash

Fires 2020-0211 Car Fire Bourbon Pumphandle Mobil Station

Bourbon`s ambulance crew was there when I arrived and police as well, waiting for the fire truck to arrive, which they did shortly after. There was a lot of heat coming off the front of the car and it looked like flammable liquid was on fire under the engine as well by the look of the flames…

…two young Bourbon firefighters, Allen Noltkamper in the black gear, and Noah Thomas in the yellow gear, suited up as the hoselines were being charged…there was some type of problem and Noah went to check on it…

The line was charged and Allen began bleeding the air out of the hoseline as Noah returned to assist him in the attack on the fire…

they did a great job getting it knocked down and then moved to the front of the car once the flames and heat were removed…

Fires 2020-0211 Car Fire Bourbon Mobil Allen Noltkamper on Nozzle Backed Up by Noah

Sullivan Fire Department arrived shortly after I took this photo above and began assisting, Tony Boero also assisted with a pry bar to open the hood on the car…

It took awhile but they finally got the hood open and Bourbon firefighters continued to hose down the car and engine block…

…and a few people even got a little wet in the process near the end….not Tony tho. 🙂 Good work by all who were there !! 

Area firefighters were kept busy from mid January to mid February 2020 and weather apparently was only to blame one evening. On January 22nd, Sullivan Fire and EMS were dispatched to a report of a head on mva with entrapment and fire, at the 231.4 mile marker, just east of the Stanton overpass, with both vehicles coming to rest in the median. Once responding, Pumper 854`s crew was advised by Washco Dispatch that this was a tractor trailer possibly carrying haz mat involved in a head on collision with another vehicle, and heavy black smoke was observed briefly by firefighters enroute to the scene. Washco advised the truck was believed to be transporting a cargo of paint thinner and St Clair Fire Department was responding as well. As I drove to the scene on the North Service Road, I observed some smoke initially and then no more as I got closer to the scene. I parked at a nearby business with permission from the owner, who advised what happened below his buildings on the westbound lanes…that a westbound pickup truck had strayed off the right shoulder and then crossed back across both wb lanes, into and across the median, striking the front drivers side corner of the eastbound semi…ripping off the fuel tanks of the semi, causing the diesel fuel tanks to rupture, spill, and catch fire, only igniting the fuel which spread to the cab and front of the semi trailer only, the semi coming to rest facing eastbound in the median about 200 feet east of the collision point. The pickup came to rest in the median, also facing eastbound, near the point of collision. Traffic in both directions came to a stop in all four lanes, and good samaritans, armed with fire extinguishers, knocked down the heavy fire that enveloped the cab of the semi and removed the truck driver from the cab as well, all in a matter of a few minutes and before emergency personnel arrived on scene…when Pumper 854 and MOBAP Ambulance arrived, they stopped at the pickup and began extrication of the driver immediately…

Fires 2020-0122 351 MVA Head On EB I-44 231.4 MM Semi & Pickup

…the medics climbed inside the pickup to take care of the patient while firefighters began working two lines of extrication tools to remove the patient….Sullivan firefighters also responded two tankers to the scene and they sped on by the pickup to the tractor trailer 200 feet east, where firefighters set up a pre-connect hoseline to address any other fire concerns and to cool down the fuselage…

…the semi driver was taken to the eastbound shoulder to wait for ems arrival and an air medical helicopter was requested soon after for the semi driver…

St Clair Fire Department arrived soon after with a pumper and ambulance from St Clair Ambulance District following, and their firefighters assisted Sullivan firefighters with extrication at the pickup scene….

…while Chief Sullivan of St Clair Fire, assisted more Sullivan firefighters with the semi and trailer damage…Fires 2020-0122 414AVI MVA Head On EB 44 231.4 MM Air Unit Lifts Off With Semi Driver

St Clair and Sullivan firefighters systematically had to cut the cab of the pickup with the tools and remove it in order to safely remove the driver from the wreckage…

Eastbound traffic was backed up for miles to the west….

A couple of passersby took photos prior to the arrival of emergency personnel that showed the fire enveloping the semi and the westbound lanes, and it did look like the pickup may have had a smoke or steam cloud in front of it…

The second photo taken by a passerby, was apparently taken east of the pickup in the median and from the volume of fire present, those passersby that extinguished the fire and removed the truck driver, should be commended for doing a GREAT job with both details….

Later that night, Sullivan firefighters were kicked out early in the hours of January 23rd for a vehicle accident involving a Semi that slammed into the columns under the James K. Schatz Memorial Bridge on the eastbound 44 side. This is just a few blocks north of me so I drove down and arrived right behind the Fire Department and discovered one of the worst mva`s involving a semi…turns out the semi cab struck one of the columns and the collision separated the cab from the frame, separated the engine from the nose of the cab, ripped the fuselage away from under the frame, ripped the axle, wheels, and tires from the frame, and turned the trailer completely around, facing westbound on the shoulder…unbelievable !! The motor was deposited on the shoulder in front of the trailer`s fifty wheel connection, on the highway side of the passenger cabin. Fuel was strewn all over the South Service Road, adding to the slick surface of the roadway from the icing that had occurred earlier in the day and evening. The back of the passenger cabin was sitting up against the second column under the bridge, but was not wrapped around it, and the driver had crawled out of the cab on his own as police officers arrived, but his driving mate was still inside and had to be extricated by Sullivan Firefighters….

Fires 2020-0122 44 AVI Semi MVA Under Schatz Mem Bridge EB 44 Driver Trapped in Cab

Fires 2020-0122 49 AVI Semi MVA Under Schatz Mem Bridge Driver 2 Trapped in Cab

this view above is looking west and the fire truck is parked on the South Service Road…

Fires 2020-0122 50 AVI Semi MVA Under Schatz Mem Bridge EB 44 Driver 2 Trapped in Cab

…and then looking east from the column that was initially struck…bet those troopers were shaking their heads in wonder, too….

Firefighters were able to finally free the second driver from the wreckage, he was holding his arm when they walked him to the stretcher, no serious injuries to either driver. Good work by all.

The next morning, January 24th, around 8 am, Sullivan Fire, Police, and MOBAP Ambulance, were dispatched to a residential first alarm, house fire, at 04 East Euclid, on the corner of Church and Euclid, and on arrival of EMS heavy smoke was coming from the eaves of the residence. I arrived as Pumper 854 arrived and parked on the Church Street side of the house…

Firefighters were packing up and preparing to enter the residence as Pumper 814 arrived on scene and prepared to hook to the hydrant near where I parked…

…and a few minutes later, as Rescue 816 arrived, the smoke coming from the residence, multiplied exponentially….

…and then it became apparent that firefighters inside the house were getting water on the fire because the smoke dissipated quite a bit….

Sgt Jeff Rohrer and his officers were doing a great job of handling traffic flow around the scene…

..and a few minutes later, St Clair Fire District arrived on scene and assisted firefighters with the fire in the attic…

Within the next 30 minutes firefighters had the fire completely knocked down and began overhaul operations as I left the scene. Turns out the residence was not occupied and was possibly undergoing rennovation. Another good job by all. 

Sometimes the Farmers Almanac is right and sometimes, Thank God, it`s not…the second week of January 2020, it got things right most of the week. I bet my buddy Brian Beckett tho, is glad that it doesn`t predict mishaps like folks driving through his garage doors at both of his Express Care Valvoline businesses. I was doing some computer work at my desk the morning of January 3rd when I heard police dispatched to a report of a car running into his business on the South Service Road, so I grabbed my camera and drove down there, to find that a car had pulled into the first bay from the back and instead of stopping, the driver stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake, clipped the technician as he was diving out of the way, and then went right through the front garage door…when I got there, MOBAP Ambulance personnel were on scene with Sullivan PD and Sullivan Fire Department was responding…

Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt and the techs were busy cleaning up the damage, ems checked out the tech clipped by the car and the driver of the car, and as Brian stated later, doors can be replaced and insurance takes care of it….

Poor Brian tho…the same day at about the same time, at his business in Rolla, another vehicle did nearly the same thing up there. I feel for ya buddy.

One week later, we had ice and snow on the 10th of January, resulting in a few accidents, one reported as a rollover in the median in front of Du Kum Inn, shot this one from the parking lot next to the Zephyr station….

Fires 2020 MVAs on I-44 During Sleet – Snow Storm 0111 1st Video MVA

MOBAP Ambulance arrived to find no injuries, disregarded Sullivan Fire Department, who was responding to the call. I shot this video of the sleet coming down afterwards….

Weatherscapes 2020-0111 Sleet Storm Starting Out

Fire and EMS soon after, were then dispatched to another MVA in the eastbound lanes of I-44 at Stanton, which was also a non-injury accident and both agencies were soon disregarded…I shot photos of the snow coming down as I drove back to Sullivan from Stanton, flakes coming down were big as your hands….

Fires 2020-0111 Sleet & Snow Storm Causing MVAs on I-44

I was taking it easy on Sunday, September 8th about noon, when the tones dropped for Sullivan Fire Department, toning them out for a commercial structure fire at Sullivan Precision Metal on Franklin Street. I drove north on Elmont Road and turned up Dunsford Drive to come in the back way, observing light brown smoke along the rear wall of the building as I drove up on the factory building. This factory sits underneath one of Sullivan`s water towers on the north side of town….

Sullivan Fire Department arrived soon after in Pumper 854….

Video 237 Comm Structure Fire Sullivan Precision Metal Finishing 2019-0908

I was still near the back of the building when Jim Bartle, Sullivan Independent News Editor, arrived and I told him what I knew about the fire so far…the smoke had a strong electrical odor, but no one at that time was sure what was burning inside the building as crews were just starting to enter the east side of the building near the loading bay, where additional crews were beginning to arrive as we watched…

…here you see Pumper 814 arriving, hooking to the hydrant across the street from the building and preparing to lay a supply line in to Pumper 854….Ray Enloe coordinated with incoming crews outside the building while his Captain and crew operated inside the building…

Video 235 Comm Structure Fire Sullivan Prec Metal Finishing 2019-0908

Bourbon Fire Department arrived soon after and were directed to the back of the building, under the water tower…

…and then Ladder 852 arrived…

…and then the interior crew came out for additional bottles of air….

St Clair Fire Department arrived next with their Ladder Truck and were directed by Ray to the rear of the building as well…

Video 253 Comm Structure Fire Sullivan Prec Metal Finishing 2019-0908

By this time, crews were under the impression that this may be some type of boiler fire near the back of the building…shortly after St Clair arrived, command was passed to Ray outside the building….Ray had Bourbon and St Clair position at the rear of the building to anchor that side in case fire breached the back wall…

Joe Thurmond arrived soon and went inside the building with firefighters to check on a transformer near the rear of the building as well…

…and then Joe came out of the building to update Ray on the fire inside…

Video 293 Comm Structure Fire Sullivan Prec Metal Finishing 2019-0908

..and more crews exited the building…here Jim Grimm and his crew exit the building to replace their air bottles….

…and then re-enter the building once again…

…soon after, additional crews arrived from Union and Beaufort-Leslie Fire Districts…

Video 312 Comm Structure Fire Sullivan Prec Metal Finishing 2019-0908

…soon after their arrival, interior crews located the source of the fire and knocked it down. Some serious ventilation work happened afterward as the entire building was filled with the obnoxious odor brown smoke, that required air masks worn and several positive pressure ventilation fans set up to air out the building, restoring visibility and safe conditions inside the building for workers as well as firefighters. 

As it was, turned out to be an electrical transfomer inside the building that caught fire, which explained the odor of the smoke. Job well done by all who responded !!

I remember this fire like it was yesterday…I was out in front of the fire response by a few miles but when it was dispatched, I didn`t catch the location clearly, thought they gave it as Sappington Bridge Road past Pipeline Road. I spotted smoke before I turned off Hwy D, but from that far away, could not tell if it was on Sappington Bridge Road or Pipeline Road and as I crossed the Meramac River, I lost the smoke completely. I drove on down Sappington Bridge Road til the road started down the big hill toward Greens Branch Creek, then turned around and turned right on Pipeline Road, arriving behind Chief Eric. I parked off the road as much as possible, the brush gets close to the road there, and walked up to the scene to photograph the Kia sedan, fully involved….

Pumper 854 arrived soon after and firefighters pulled hoselines and prepared for battle…

Car Fire 2019-0730 069AVI c2019 JW JOHNSON

…and then Davey Sumpter, on the nozzle, and Captain Dave Konys, began their attack…

Car Fire 2019-0730 077AVI c 2019 JW JOHNSON

…and then Chase Robertson walked up to assist with a haligan tool to open the car hood…

DSC_0102

…and soon they had the fire out…in the next video, I was talking with a couple of firefighters about how the truck strobe lights were reflecting on the fire coats and even Chief Eric`s vest in a wild and colorful way…strong strobes for sure to be working that way in broad and bright daylight…

DSC_0111