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

Soon after darkness fell on December 29th, Sullivan Fire Department was dispatched to a residential structure fire on Box Elder Road, which is a small residential area across from the site of the old Kellter Tower on Hwy 185 South.  Firefighters arrived to find a mobile home well involved and the trailer tightly closed up, appeared to be abandoned and they were having a lot of difficulty making access to it when I arrived and started taking photos. 

Fires 2019-1229 10037 Box Elder Road Mobile Home Fire

…what you cannot see in the photos above are the firefighters trying to make entry, because they are inside that heavy smoke cloud to the right of the fire….the next video shows why portable lighting was brought in soon after to light things up for the firefighters while they chopped holes in the exterior skin walls to gain entry to the fire….

Fires 2019-1229 Mobile Home Fire 10037 Box Elder Road 2

..they did eventually make it down to my end of the trailer, still trying to find a way to enter the trailer, and discovered the trailer still had electric power service.

Fires 2019-1229 Mobile Home Fire 10037 Box Elder Road 3

they were able to chop some holes in the thin walls of the trailer giving them some limited access to the fire raging inside, while other firefighters used a chainsaw to cut brush around the east end of the trailer and set up lighting. Both sets of crews here tonight, really got a good workout in…

Fires 2019-1229 10037 Box Elder Road Mobile Home Fire Vid 41

…rain was falling during the time they were fighting the fire and continued through the night as well. Firefighters were able to knock down the flames inside the trailer through the holes punched in the outside skin of the mobile home and bring the fire under control. I left the scene soon after this.

Shortly after midnight Friday morning, December 13th, 2019, I woke up to hear Bourbon Fire Department being dispatched to assist Cuba with a commercial structure fire at the old Midway Motel near the intersection of Hwy 19 and Old 66…the original hotel building, which faced Old Highway 66 on the northeast corner of Highway 19,  was torn down a couple of years ago. It was once owned by Noel Piccard, a Blues Hockey Player many years ago…and this  building was a two wing section that sat half a block north of the original structure and had been used as apartments in more recent years. Cuba received the call at 12:06 am and arrived to find the south facing wing totally engulfed in heavy fire, called for a second alarm shortly after…I arrived right behind Sullivan`s Pumper 854 and observed the west facing wing fully involved….

…and Cuba firefighters deploying their 75 foot Ladder Truck Nozzle to fight the heavy fire from the structure….

Fires 2019-1213 Old Midway Motel in Cuba 2nd Alarm Structure Fire

Fires 2019-1213 2nd Vid Midway Motel in Cuba Fully Involved

Fires 2019-1213 3rd Vid Midway Motel Fire in Cuba Early This Morning

Fires 2019-1213 4th Video Midway Hotel Fire in Cuba Early This Morning 101 N Franklin St

Fires 2019-1213 5th Video from NW Corner

Fires 2019-1213 6th Video Midway Hotel Remains Fire in Cuba

The video above shows a firefighter getting a little too close to the fire and getting caught and called out for it…fighting fire is a dangerous enough job without stunts like this. In over 45 years of photographing fires, I have seen too many things like this and Thank God no one has gotten seriously burned or hurt, but the potential is definitely there to do so. 

By now the fire had reached the end of the road, burning as far down the wing as it could, and was beginning to wind down…

Sullivan Fire District sent a second crew to assist and they arrived shortly after, as well as crews from Owensville Fire District….

I left the scene shortly after Sullivan`s reinforcements arrival, all firefighters on scene had a lot of mopping up to do…I heard later in the week that the fire was deemed to be suspicious and an investigation was underway. As usual, Cuba Fire Department did a great job maintaining control of the fire with good assistance from Cuba PD, Crawford County Sheriffs Office and Missouri State Highway Patrol.