| Three fires hit Laquey area Thursday |
By: Darrell Todd Maurina
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Posted: Friday, August 7, 2009 6:50 am
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Firefighters were unable to save this home north of I-44 Thursday morning.
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LAQUEY, Mo. (Aug. 7, 2009) — Three fires near Laquey wrecked one home and damaged two others Thursday, tying up firefighters from four fire districts for many hours.
About 10:30 a.m., Hazelgreen firefighters received a report of a fire alarm sounding at a home on 26661 Randolph Road, which is the north outer road of Interstate 44 west of Exit 150. While on their way to the blaze, firefighters received additional reports of smoke showing and eventually the report was upgraded to flames in the kitchen area.
“It started out as a fire alarm, but it was fully involved before we got there,” said Capt. Ann Price of the Hazelgreen Rural Fire Protection District.
Many Hazelgreen firefighters were out of town or at work, so the first agency responding was the Tri-County Rural Fire Protection District from Richland, whose personnel arrived about five to six minutes after the first alarm.
“They confined the fire to the kitchen and the living room but the back bedroom and hallway and bathroom are still standing,” Price said.
The residents of the house were present at the time of the fire, Price said, but were not hurt. Two pets, a house cat and her kitten, were killed.
“They noticed smoke behind the refrigerator and it looks like it was an electrical fire in that area,” Price said.
The house is considered a total loss, Price said. The fire is not considered suspicious and the state fire marshal was not called.
Due to the time of day and low initial response, Hazelgreen and Tri-County firefighters called for backup from Waynesville and Crocker firefighters who eventually brought 23 firefighters with three engines, three tankers and three command vehicles.
Hazelgreen firefighters remained at the fire scene until about 1:15 p.m. helping family members by removing salvageable items from the house.
“(We) continued to work to remove the property so the family would not have to go back inside,” Price said. “It’s protocol for us; it’s pretty devastating to lose your house so we go inside and try to get as much as we can so they have at least something of what was in their home.”
Pulaski County Ambulance District personnel also responded in case of injuries but were not needed. A Pulaski County deputy initially responded but Price said she released the deputy shortly after arriving since that deputy was the only person on call for the entire county.
Two more fires Thursday evening about 8 p.m. caused additional damage but didn’t destroy the homes.
Waynesville and Hazelgreen firefighters responded to a blaze on Sunlight Lane, which is off the South Outer Road of Interstate 44 between Exit 153 and Exit 156, and found a home on fire but arrived quickly enough to confine the blaze to the room and its contents. As they were mopping up that blaze, they received a second call to 27100 Stoddard Drive, which is near the junction of Highway P and Highway 17 east in the Laquey area. That blaze was confined to an area under the porch of the home.
Detailed reports weren’t immediately available on either fire.
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