I arrived right behind Pumper 8854 to find an suv well involved, Jacob Dace on the nozzle…
AVI 21 SUV Fire on East Street CS Vine Street 2023-1209
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
Another semi trailer caught on fire in about the same spot as the one that happened in July during the day…this one happened at night, on the westbound shoulder east of Sullivan. By the time I arrived, firefighters had the fire knocked down….
Captain Ray Enloe on the nozzle in the two photos above…
Sunsets October thru Nov 2023
Some really gorgeous sunsets in October and November 2023….
this one at the ballpark….
City Park Ballfields….
Silo Parking Lot….
Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas from Hwy 7 Bridge….
Flooding Rains August 2023
You sure dont think about heavy rainfall during the month of August, which is one of the hottest and humid months we usually have each year, but in 2023 we had heavy rainfall and serious flooding. When it rains that much, I have to stay up at night and make sure the basement doesn`t flood, that the sump pump continues to run just fine, makes for a long night. Here is how my backyard looked that night, it was all the ditch, fifty feet behind my shed, could do to carry the water from my area as well as water a few blocks upstream, down to the start of Winsel Creek. I believe this was the deepest on my shed I have seen it rise…just a few inches deeper and it would have been inside my shed….
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…
Missouri Wildlife in July 2023
I rarely take photos of birds, unless it`s an Eagle…have a few friends that shoot birds on a normal basis and I enjoy their photos and talents alot. One day in July I came out the back door, very hot outside as it normally is in Missouri in July…heard a water fluttering sound, and looked over at the neighbor`s house to see a bright red Cardinal washing itself off in the bucket of cool water that collects under the neighbor`s window air conditioner…..
It`s a good thing I had my telephoto lens camera in my hands, as he didn`t let me get too close.
A week later, I drove down to meet Bob Steele at a new site to do some scouting for Druse Quartz and I stopped off at the entrance to Council Bluffs Park to give Onyx a bathroom break. No sooner pulled in thru the gate and came upon two beautiful young bucks…
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….
Fireworks Sullivan 2023
Now if I recall correctly, I think the 4th of July Fireworks Show 2023 in Sullivan, was one of the shortest shows I have photographed in some time. I went back to 2017, when I photographed the Fireworks Show in Hot Springs, Arkansas…I can`t really compare that show to the Sullivan Show because the Hot Springs Show lasts a good 30 to 45 minutes each year…they spend a lot of money on that show but it is well worth every penny in my book. They shoot them at the Powerboat Dealership on Lake Hamilton, so you get the show in the sky and the great reflections on the water, too. When I shot that show in 2017, I shot around 150 to 200 time exposure photos and several videos as well, from the balcony of a good friend`s condo that is right on Lake Hamilton a quarter mile from the Powerboat Dealer. Here are a few of those photos and one video….
Take note of the crowd, most of whom are in their boats on the lake surrounding the Powerboat Dealership and on both sides of the Hwy 7 Bridge that crosses Lake Hamilton by the dealership, and the water reflections. During the years that I was in the Hot Springs area for a week during July 4th holidays, I could easily shoot at least 3 Fireworks Shows down there over that entire weekend at different locations and I could easily shoot at least 100 photos at each one, if not more, and more importantly, I would easily be able to keep 95 of those photos in my files.
At the Sullivan Fireworks Shows in the past five years alone, I normally shoot 50 to 60 photos at a good show, and 5 to 7 videos….I did that in 2018 and 2019, but since then, I am lucky if I have shot 40 photos and a few videos. Whether you are going to have a good show, highly depends on who the City Council awards the bid to. In 2023 I kept about 20 photos total in my file, and that was it…pretty dismal show overall. I remember thinking, while watching and photographing that show, that Sullivan Firefighters put on much better shows at the Sullivan High School Football Field in the 1970`s and we shot them one at a time usually.
Here are the photos I shot and kept for the 2023 Show….the first is the huge full moon that night, started out at sunset as a Orange Harvest Moon…
AVI 191 Grand Finale Celebrate America July 2nd, 2023
I shot 3 videos and this is the 3rd one, the Grand Finale that was messed up at the start and the end.
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.
