High winds led to several fires in the WLDS/WEAI listening area on Friday, including one in Meredosia that destroyed the back half of Shady Acres Mobile Home Park.
Meredosia and Arenzville Fire Departments were called to the park just before 4:00 pm Friday for a call of an abandoned trailer that was on fire. Officials with both departments said the high winds stirred the fire into a blaze that quickly spread throughout the area.
Arenzville Fire Chief Chris Privia says multiple structures were engulfed with fire as crews arrived. “There were seven structures burning when we got there. We parked on the east side and I can’t tell you a lot about the west side because I didn’t make it over there. There was a trailer and another house that were just starting to light. It burnt some siding and stuff off of them. So we jumped on those and got them knocked down, and just tried to fight that wind back to the middle of it.
You know Phil McCarty and I had just talked a few hours before, and we talked the night before, worried about this happening. There’s been a lot of burning going on the last week or two and we knew that wind was coming, and we were worried about it kicking things up. But we didn’t even think about something like this being thrown on top of it.”
Meredosia Fire Chief Ethan Myers says the strong south winds pushed the fire northward completely through the neighborhood all the way into the timber by Meredosia Lake.
In all seven structures were completely destroyed, and three others suffered significant damage. An unknown number of animals were killed in the fire, however, no injuries to any residents or firefighters were reported as of press time.
Several eyewitnesses told firefighters at the scene they saw a fallen power line bouncing around in the wind that sparked, causing multiple small fires. The Office of the State Fire Marshal was called in to investigate the cause of the fire.
Crews from Meredosia, Arenzville, North Scott, Griggsville and Beardstown all aided in fire suppression efforts, with the last crew leaving the scene at approximately 9:30 Friday night.
While crews were fighting the fire at Shady Acres in north Meredosia, multiple area crews responded to a call of a second fire south of town. South Jacksonville Fire Chief Richard Evans Jr. says his department responded as mutual aid at approximately 4:30 pm to number 1 Upper Smith Road for a report of a cabin fire.
“There was a pretty good fire going in the cabin when we got there and a lot of area of the timber was on fire. But we were able to extinguish it all and get it cut off from spreading any further into the woods. The cabin was unoccupied. Someone doesn’t live in it, it’s more of a getaway place as I understand it. The fire got into that and up into the attic pretty good.
There were no injuries. A neighbor said he heard some cracking and popping outside and looked out and saw a real small shed that had some fuel and stuff in it on fire. And with the winds the way they were yesterday it quickly spread.”
Evans says damages to the cabin are estimated at $50,000. A cause of the shed fire that ignited the cabin and surrounding area remains undetermined.
Meredosia Fire Chief Ethan Myers says crews from both Meredosia and Arenzville were called back to the scene of the Shady Acres fire later that night. “There was a house down on the north end of that street that I don’t know if embers flew out of the trees and caught a shed on fire, but it was a total loss. But we got there in time to put the house out that was by the shed. It was on fire too, but we were at least able to get it put out where hopefully it will be salvageable. But I don’t know that for sure.”
Crews remained on scene for several hours for the second ignition.
The Shady Acres fire was just one of several calls for area fire departments Friday. Chief Priva says the Arenzville Fire Department was dispatched to assist in multiple other calls throughout the night.
“While we were at Shady Acres, we got paged to the other one at Upper Smith Road out there at Smith Lake. I had to break away a couple of units to go to Stock Lane in Cass County. They had a field fire that got into the timber down there, so one of our trucks had to go to that at about seven o’clock.
We cleared at about ten o’ clock and then went to Six Mile Road in Cass County for a structure and a field on fire over there. We didn’t get back in until- well as a matter of fact when we got paged back out to Dosh at two thirty this morning we were just leaving the firehouse.”
Chief Evans says the South Jacksonville Fire Department aided the Woodson Fire Department around noon Friday for a small ditch fire on Sheehan Road after a power line fell and ignited the dry grass. They were then called out at approximately 8:00 pm to the 1200 block of Old Route 36 for a shed that had the roof blown off.
Evans says there was no fire at that call, however, there were electrical issues so South Jacksonville Fire personnel aided at the scene while Ameren cut off the power.
Jacksonville/Morgan County Emergency Management Director Phil McCarty says at one point Friday they were managing or assisting with management of fire calls in all three counties with more than 20 active departments at one time.
He says everyone involved deserves credit for how well they worked together to keep each incident from becoming much worse.
