Fire chief injured after Monday fire

Poplar Bluff Fire Chief Ralph Stucker injured his knee while attempting to retrieve equipment from the bed of his pickup Monday evening.

Stucker and firefighters from all three stations responded to a structure fire at the 817 Warren St. residence owned by Bob Sutton at 6:18 p.m.

The home was fully involved upon their arrival, and firefighters set up “attack lines” on two sides of the structure and laid a water supply line, Capt. Jeff Hale wrote in his report.

Stucker

After the initial exterior attack, Hale said, a positive-pressure-ventilation fan was set up at the home’s front door, and firefighters began their interior attack.

Once the fire was out, and firefighters were preparing to leave, Hale said, he saw Stucker bent over holding his knee.

“Rachel (McColley) was there from the Fire Marshal’s Office; the guys were fixing to leave,” explained Stucker. “I was going to get a light out of the truck to use back in one of the rooms.”

Getting into the bed of his truck, Stucker said, is something he had done hundreds of times over the years.

“I was parked on a little bit of an incline,” Stucker explained. “I put my foot on the back bumper to get in and my foot slipped.”

When Stucker’s foot came down, landing on the ground, he said, his knee popped.

Stucker subsequently was taken by Firefighter Travis Taylor to the emergency room for treatment.

“They took X-rays,” but can’t really tell, Stucker said. “There may be a tear.”

Paperwork, Stucker said, has been sent to city hall for him to see an orthopedic doctor.

“Hopefully, they’ll get me in pretty quick,” and the “orthopedic guy can look at it to make sure there is no tear,” Stucker said.

Tuesday morning, Stucker said, his knee was sore, and he was not moving “real well.”

“It’s immobilized with a brace; I can’t move it,” Stucker said. “ … As long as it’s not being moved, it doesn’t hurt. Getting up to do anything makes it difficult to maneuver.”

Being immobilized for a few days, Stucker said, may help.

“Hopefully, it will be something that needs to be wrapped up, and I can bide time with it,” Stucker said.

While Stucker would “rather (the injury) had not happened period,” he said, it was better that it was him than “one of the guys. …With it being me, it does not impact the crews (on the trucks) as much.”