The State Fire Marshal and Poplar Bluff Police Department are investigating fires that occurred Wednesday in East Poplar Bluff. Three were structure or vehicle fires.
The State Fire Marshal is looking into the two structure fires, which occurred in the 400 block of Spruce Street, while the PBPD is looking into a camper fire in the 200 block of Riverview Drive. A fourth incident, an unauthorized burn on South F Street, also required city firefighters to respond.
According to Battalion Chief Stacy Harmon, crews arrived shortly after 8 p.m. at a vacant church at 422 Spruce St., formerly the St. John Baptist Church. The firefighters saw two people attempting to pull a burning church pew out the front door. Once the people moved away from the building, the first crew extinguished the fire using five gallons of water. Additional fire units were canceled.
Shortly before midnight, crews responded to another structure fire nearby at 420 Spruce St.
According to Harmon’s report, the single wood frame house had heavy flames showing in the rear. The first crew “knocked most of the fire down and the second and third engine companies” searched the structure to ensure it was vacant. The crews used 500 gallons of water to put out the fire.
The 10 firefighters at the scene were Harmon, Austin Armes, Capt. Chad Bell, Joshua M. Buhler, Kenneth Felts, Lt. Andrew Fox, Lt. Jonathan D. Miller, Tanner Tibbs, Capt. Toby Tuggle and Fire Chief Michael Moffitt.
Shortly before the first call to Spruce Street, firefighters received a call to a reported structure fire in the 200 block of F Street. When they arrived, they found a mattress burning on a vacant lot. They used 30 gallons of water to extinguish the fire. Additional units were canceled.
Shortly after 7 p.m., Harmon reported the crew at Station 1 on Broadway noticed black smoke on the east side of the Black River. As the crew was crossing the Bartlett Street bridge, they were notified a camper was on fire on Riverview. Upon arrival, they used 500 gallons of water to extinguish the fire. The owner of the lot, Tabitha Colby, said she did not know how to get in touch the camper’s owner.