I arrived right behind Pumper 8854 to find an suv well involved, Jacob Dace on the nozzle…
Category Archives: Fires 2023
MVA in Bourbon Behind the High School with Fire Dec 2023
I heard Bourbon dispatched for a car into a tree, behind the High School on Old Springfield Road, the car on fire and possible entrapment. When I arrived, Sullivan was on scene assisting Bourbon Fire and extinguishing the fire…a child was removed from the car, soon after arrival of Bourbon Firefighters, and transported to Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital by ambulance. Firefighter Jared Boast arrived on scene shortly before arrival of firefighters and took this photo of the car into the tree….
Semi Trailer Fire on I-44 Sullivan Nov 2023
Semi Trailer Fire July 2023 Sullivan
I heard the tones drop and Sullivan Fire District dispatched to a semi trailer on fire, located on the westbound shoulder of I-44 about a mile east of the East Overpass. St Clair Fire District was also dispatched for the assist.
I drove down the North Service Road and parked in front of the old Welding Shop, and photographed the trailer, well involved in heavy fire at the back of the trailer…..
had the scene all to myself and then realized Sullivan had to go to Stanton and turn around to come back westbound…
AVI 68 Semi Trailer Fire Sullivan Fire Arriving
AVI 72 Sullivan Firefighters Making Initial Attack
Sullivan Firefighters attacked the fire from the passing lane of westbound 44 after shutting down the westbound traffic…leaving only the westbound shoulder for approach of all fire trucks….
AVI 80 Firefighter Jacob Dace on Nozzle & Capt Damon Sumpter Backing Him Up on Line
Jacob Dace was on the nozzle, Captain Damon Sumpter backing him up on the hoseline, and Drew Richards manning the pump on 8854
AVI 90 Can Hear St Clair Fire Approaching .AVI
Jacob had the fire knocked down well when St Clair Firefighters arrived, so they stayed and assisted with overhaul and mop up…
Motel Outbuilding Fire Sullivan July 2023
Late morning on July 8th, 2023, Sullivan Firefighters were dispatched to Sullivan Motel 6 for a Commercial Structure Fire. Arriving shortly after, firefighters discovered the Storage building in the Courtyard of the Motel Grounds, was well involved, with heavy dark smoke coming out of every opening….
Captain Ray Enloe and Firefighter John Strothcamp donned airpacks and prepared the enter the building, as the Engineer prepped Pumper 8854 for water supply from the next incoming Pumper, 8814….
AVI 205 Making Entry John Wayne Strothcamp & Ray Enloe
and then entered the building with heavy brown smoke coming out of the building…my buddy Tim Leasor stayed near the door just outside the east entrance to feed them more hoseline if needed…..
AVI 222 Smoke Darkened Down to Black Quickly
Tim is a good guy, was on the Fire Department for several years as well, always willing to lend a hand where needed…firefighters were short handed for a little while there, before more manpower arrived to help…
Ladder 8852 arrived a few minutes later and raised the ladder up over the roofline, as the smoke started turning from black to a light grey….
….which indicates that firefighters are getting water on the seat of the fire…more lines were stretched out….
AVI 239 Getting Supply Lines Laid Out
…..Bourbon, St Clair, and Beaufort-Leslie firefighters all arrived soon after to assist Sullivan with overhaul….
House Fire Sullivan July 2023
Sullivan Fire Department was dispatched to a residential structure fire on the afternoon of July 2nd, on Hamilton Hollow Road. I arrived soon after Pumper 8854 and parked up the road a little ways…knew there would be alot of tankers showing up soon, and quite surprisingly, DeSoto Rural Fire Department`s tanker arrived ahead of a few Departments that were closer. Fire Command established Station 4 at Woodland Lakes, as the fill point and soon tankers were making trips back and forth. This was a 2 story residence and fully involved on arrival….
…it appeared to have been burning a little while before firefighters arrived, as the 2nd story of the house was down on top of what was left of the ground floor. Firefighters Zach Martell and John Strothcamp were on the nozzle and had their hands full, especially when the ammunition started popping inside the residential ruins…
AVI 13 Randy Duck Residence 11041 Hamilton Hollow Road
Luckily they had a section of wall between them and the ammo initially because it was really popping off out there.
AVI 16 Duck Residence Fire 11041 Hamilton Hollow Road Out of Water
AVI 25 Out of Water Ammo Exploding 11041 Hamilton Hollow Road
AVI 33 Randy Duck Residence Sullivan Has Water Again
St Clair Firefighters arrived about this time with manpower and a pumper and quickly pitched in to assist on fire suppression. Soon Sullivan Tanker and Bourbon Tanker arrived back on scene with DeSoto Tanker not far behind them.
House Fire Cuba June 2023
Sullivan and Bourbon Fire Districts were dispatched to assist Cuba Fire District with a Residential Structure Fire at 1453 Highway UU, on a very hot day in June of 2023. I drove up to photograph the fire for the Independent News and arrived to find Sullivan firefighters dousing down hot spots at the front of the house…
AVI 10 Cuba 2nd Alarm Residence Fire 1453 Hwy UU 2023-0629
Cuba Chief Mike Plank had upgraded to a 2nd Alarm by the time I arrived, so more departments were on the way. I parked up near Hwy 19 and walked down the gravel driveway to the scene.
AVI 19 Cuba 2nd Alarm Residence Fire 1453 Hwy UU 2023-0629
When it became an exterior fire attack operation, Chief Plank allowed firefighters to remove their turnout coats and continue fighting fire. Medics on scene were continuously passing out bottles of water to the firefighters as they continued to fight the fire. Temperature was 97 degrees and there was an occasional nice breeze, would have been better with a steady breeze tho.
AVI 46 Cuba 2nd Alarm Residence 2023-0629
AVI 61 Cuba 2nd Alarm Residence 2023-0629
Vehicle Fire WB 44 St Cloud Area Feb 2023
Sullivan firefighters responded to a vehicle fire on Feb 9th, around 8:30 am and arrived to find a Chevrolet suv fully involved with heavy fire blowing out the back of it….so heavy no one could tell what was on fire….wind was blowing so much, you can prob barely hear me talking on it….
AVI 05 Car Fire WB 44 at 221 MM 2023-0209
Captain Dave Konys and Firefighter Zac Martell stretched the attack line to fight the fire, while firefighter Dave Sumpter operated the pump…
AVI 23 Car Fire WB 44 at 221 MM 2023-0209
Another Trailer Fire South of Sullivan Feb 2023
Yes, the title is Another Trailer Fire south of Sullivan…it seemed for the longest time that it was one trailer fire after another and many were beginning to think there was a serial arsonist in the area. This one was a night fire, on the 8th of February, around 1 am…Sullivan firefighters arrived to find the trailer fully involved at 10037 Box Elder Road, which is a small subdivision of trailers, across from the old Kelter Tower on Hwy 185….
Captain Ray Enloe is on the nozzle at the back door to the trailer….the trailer was already sagging near the front and partially collapsed while I was there shooting photos…
Trailer Fire Sullivan Jan 31st, 2023
Around noon on January 31st, 2023, Sullivan firefighters were dispatched to a trailer fire near Ditch Witch on the South Service Road west of Sullivan. They arrived to find the trailer fully involved, the male resident out of the trailer but his dog remained inside and unaccounted for. Firefighters began their attack at the front door and worked their way to the back of the trailer, heavy fire inside and underneath…Jacob Dace on the hoseline with Captain Damon Sumpter backing him up….
AVI 132 Mobile Home Fire 1541 S Service Rd West Sullivan
Jacob knocked down the fire, then turned the hoseline over to Damon, and began pulling the tin siding off the trailer…Joe Johnson soon came to assist him…
AVI 145 Damon on Nozzle as Jacob Dace & Joe Johnson Pull Siding
Bourbon Firefighters arrived, bringing a pumper and a tanker with them, and by now, Sullivan firefighters were setting up a portable drafting tank for a water supply. Bourbon`s firefighters wear black turnout gear, a couple of their guys took the second hoseline and went around to the back of the trailer shortly after arrival to attack fire on that side…
AVI 157 Bourbon Firefighters Assisting On Scene Now
…and soon after, heavy fire began venting from the rear of the trailer on the Sullivan firefighter side….
…so Damon stretched the line back to the rear of the trailer and turned it over to Bourbon firefighters….
Bourbon knocked down the fire and then took the hoseline to the other side of the trailer to hit the fire over there….
…and then the black smoke began belching out the Sullivan side of the trailer once again…
AVI 175 Black Smoke Picks Up at Back of Trailer
I walked over to the Bourbon side of the trailer to see how bad the fire was on that side and found out why Bourbon didn`t stay long on that side…shotgun shells were going off just inside the rear door….
AVI 178 Fire Vents Out Back Door & Shotgun Shells Popping Off
Needless to say, I didn`t stay over there very long, either. I walked back to the Sullivan side and found Bourbon firefighters dousing down the middle and front of the trailer once again…
AVI 197 Bourbon and Cuba Firefighters On Scene Assisting
and Sullivan firefighters Jacob Dace and Joe Johnson pulling more tin off the walls…