Massive fire destroys block of businesses in Puxico

PUXICO — What started as a fire in one business ultimately took out four businesses and two newly-renovated office spaces Saturday morning.

A fire at the Midway Restaurant in Puxico was reported at approximately 5:45 a.m. Saturday. Both Puxico and Bloomfield Fire Departments responded immediately. By 8:45 a.m., the Dexter Fire Department was called in to help.

“We had an apartment fire call in the morning at around 4:28 a.m.,” Dexter Fire Chief Don Seymore said. “That had nothing to do with our arrival at the Puxico fire. Once we were called, we were on the way.”

The fire was particularly brutal, reportedly burning through two firewalls in the block of structures. It spread from the Midway Restaurant to Shelter Insurance, which is owned by Mark Crisel; to the accounting service of Larry S. Ward, CPA; and then to the offices of Puxico Weekly Press, owned by Dee Loflin.

“I never thought I would be reporting on the loss of my business,” Loflin said through tears as she streamed video of the fire to the Puxico Press Facebook page. “I can’t believe this.”

Next to the Puxico Weekly Press were two office buildings renovated within the past year. Beyond those spaces, and at the end of the block, was an efficiency apartment building owned by Christian Family Fellowship.

“We were able to save that corner building,” Seymore remarked at 3 p.m. “Things are a real mess and we’ll be on the scene a little bit longer. But, fortunately we were able to save that corner building.”

“It’s a sad day. It’s a sad day for Puxico,” lamented Puxico City Alderman Peter Coutavas. “It’s crazy that this would happen now, when the city is forced to use its secondary water tower.”

Coutavas went on to explain the main water tower for Puxico is down for maintenance, and a secondary tower has been in use while the primary tower is worked on.

“The water tower situation didn’t have anything to do with complications of this fire,” Seymore explained. “We did have to set up a drop tank where we could take water from other pumper trucks. I’m not sure exactly how much water was used in total, but we did take approximately 150,000 gallons just from the trucks.”

Ward was grateful that he was able to retrieve his server from his office before the fire spread.

“I lost everything,” Ward noted. “I lost all my files. I lost everything that was in that office.”

“Everything I had is gone now,” Loflin added. “And there was so much history that I had collected in the office. I had editions of the Puxico Press that went back to the 70s and 80s. And now everything is just gone.”

Seymore said that a total of 15 different departments arrived on the scene to assist with managing the blaze.

“Once I got here and they put me in command of the scene, I activated the tanker operations for the region to bring the tankers in with their water,” Seymore explained. “We were able to use all of that and we never did put any vacuum on the Puxico water lines, so there is no damage there.”

The state fire marshal is investigating. He told Loflin he could not theorize about the fire’s cause for another two or three days, when he'll be able to evaluate the scene.

This story was updated at 5:42 p.m. Feb. 22 to correct the name of the Puxico Weekly Press. It was previously written as the Puxico Press.