Grass, vehicle fires light up Independence Day

Grass fires ignited by fireworks along with unauthorized burns and a vehicle fire sparked the Poplar Bluff Fire Department’s busy July 4th schedule.

“As a firefighter, the 4th of July is our least favorite holiday,” said Poplar Bluff Fire Chief Mike Moffitt. “We live in an area that is usually extremely hot and dry this time of year. Mix those conditions with the fireworks and we end up with a high volume of fire calls. This year was no exception. Everyone that was in the Downtown area watching our 4th of July fireworks display probably heard our fire trucks responding to multiple fires that were due to someone shooting off fireworks irresponsibly.

“It is important that fireworks are only used with close adult supervision. Luckily, we didn’t have any structure fires that were related to fireworks. In years past, we have had multiple structure fire on the 4th that were believed to have been due to fireworks.”

Battalion Chief Stacy Harmon’s reports give an account of the firefighters’ busy holiday.

A grass fire at 712 Foley St. reported at 4:19 p.m., according to Harmon’s report, was started by juveniles shooting fireworks at passing cars.

Fire crews made quick work of the Foley street fire, which was in a ditch. They spent about 10 minutes and 20 gallons of water to put out the fire. When Harmon tried to find the alleged 12-year-old male who started the fire, no one would answer the door of the residence where he was believed to live. When the six firefighters were ready to leave the scene, they asked a Poplar Bluff police officer to make contact with the subject or subjects involved.

At 9:20 p.m., six firefighters responded to a reported grass fire burning in a vacant lot at Mary and Alice streets. At 10:14 p.m., three firefighters traveled to West Harper and Benton streets to another grass fire burning a hillside and a tree. They used 50 gallons of water to put out the fire.

In Harmon’s report, he attributed the second and third grass fires to fireworks.

Unauthorized burns and a vehicle fire also kept the crews running.

At 7:12 p.m., a report of an unknown fire underneath the Fifth Street bridge turned out to be a campfire, which took three firefighters about 10 minutes and five gallons of water to douse.

The next call at 7:29 p.m. was again an unauthorized burn, in the 700 block of North 10th Street. The trio of firefighters used 100 gallons of water to put out the fire, which was close to a residence. They also told the resident about the city’s burn ordinance.

An unauthorized burn in the 200 block of South E Street was called in at 8:54 p.m. Firefighters used 20 gallons to put out the fire.

Shortly after midnight, fire crews were dispatched to a vehicle fire. Harmon’s report said a fully engulfed pickup was parked in front of the 1203 Hickory St. residence of Logan Hada. The six firefighters used 500 gallons of water to extinguish it.

A Poplar Bluff police officer awakened the owners, who were asleep. The 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500 was so damaged, authorities had to obtain the vehicle information from the owner’s insurance card.

According to Harmon’s report, the origin of the fire was undetermined, but the cause was listed as unintentional.