On June 26th, 2022, I was having breakfast at The Silo Restaurant when Jim Bartle texted and then called me, advising me of a residential structure fire on Elizabeth Street in town, said there were reports of multiple burn victims and at least one resident still inside the house that was on fire. He was responding to it as well, so I immediately let my waitress know I was leaving and headed that way, too. When we arrived, we parked down by the home of retired Sullivan firefighter Bob Marsh and then walked quickly to the scene at the streetcorner. It was evident that there had been a heavy fireball blowing from the southwest corner of the house on Sullivan Fire District`s arrival, there was heavy damage to the residence immediately west of the house on fire and still smoking as well. Firefighters were still inside trying to extinguish the fire and conduct search and rescue as well when we arrived…

That is the house above that caught fire inside, there were seven people inside when the fire broke out…six were standing out in the street when the first units arrived from the fire station…all six had burns and related injuries so Command advised County Dispatch and upgraded the First Alarm to a Mass Casualty Alarm, which is similar to a 3rd Alarm with Multiple Victims, it basically calls for extensive Mutual Aid Response and Medical Units to respond and assist Sullivan Fire.

Jim and I began photographing the scene on our arrival,  and in the midst of the bedlam, where multiple ambulances were arriving and medics attending to the burn victims of all ages, Jim was requested to drive an ambulance due to his past experience as a firefighter with Sullivan Fire District, so soon after this he left the scene driving one of the ambulances to MoBap Sullivan Hospital. There was a lot of confusion on scene and reports of medical air units landing at the High School Parking Lot.

I stayed in contact with Police and Command while on scene taking photographs, respectfully not shooting any images of the rescue of the burn victim found inside the residence and carried out by the interior fire crew. I moved to the front of the attack pumper using it to block my view of that activity….I concentrated solely on the fire and the fire attack by crews.

Fire Crews and trucks from Bourbon, Cuba, St Clair, Union, and Boles Fire Districts were among some of the departments that responded to the scene to assist Sullivan Fire. Sadly, to this day, over a year later, I do not believe the cause of the fire has been determined and at least one burn victim died from their injuries from the fire.