New Madrid, Lilbourn fire departments work together to fight residential blazes

NEW MADRID, Mo. - The fire departments in New Madrid and Lilbourn have been under an automatic aid agreement for structure fires since at least 2016. This basically means that if a home or business is on fire in either town, both departments are paged to be sure there is plenty of manpower to handle the situation.

On Jan. 19, both departments were paged to a house fire on Winston Avenue in Lilbourn. While firefighters from Lilbourn were setting up a truck and charging a fire hose, firefighters from both departments were putting on fire gear and SCBAs to fight the fire.

The fire was found to have started around the vent of a gas range in the kitchen and had spread into the attic. It was extinguished after a short time, but there was heavy smoke and water damage to the house.

On Jan. 27, both departments responded to an address in New Madrid where an electric heater had caught on fire.

Smoke was cleared from the house with a ventilation fan and a fire extinguisher was used around the furnace to minimize water damage. Luckily, there was little if any water or smoke damage and the heater was shut off at the breaker box.