Winter storm impacts local travel

NEW MADRID, Mo. - On the morning of Thursday Jan. 6, the first winter storm of the season hit the area, causing dangerous travel conditions.

At around 8:30 a.m. traffic backed up on Interstate 55 southbound near the south New Madrid overpass. Once that happened, a pileup occurred that stretched nearly all the way to the 52 mile marker, which is the Kewanee exit.

New Madrid’s Police and Fire Departments responded to the area for both traffic control and rescue.

New Madrid’s Rescue Squad cut one driver from a car that had rear-ended a tractor trailer and the driver was transported by ambulance with serious injuries. The Rescue Squad also pulled another driver from a car at the 46-mile marker and carried her across the interstate to a waiting ambulance.

Just after midnight on January 10, the fire department responded to a house fire in the 200 block of Semo Drive.

The house was fully engulfed by the time firefighters arrived on the scene, and it was extinguished by 4 a.m. The origin of the fire has not been determined, but it is possible that it started with an alternative heat source in the living room.

This time of year, extra precautions should be taken when using space heaters or portable gas heaters as supplemental heat. In addition, homeowners should be cautious when attempting to thaw frozen pipes in the cold weather; attempts to thaw frozen pipes resulted in several house fires last winter in New Madrid.