Multiple agencies respond to rural Scott County fire

On the evening hours of July 18, the Scott County Rural Fire Protection District was dispatched to a structure fire on County Road 518, according to Lt. Austin Novak. First arriving-companies found heavy fire involvement to a large shop structure known as the Lentz Auction building, immediately upgrading the incident to a second alarm, he said. “After a sizeup from the incident commander, the decision was made for an additional alarm due to heavy fire conditions and the lack of a stable water supply,” Novak said in social media post. Due to this incident being in an area without hydrant coverage, multiple agencies responded with tankers, and a water shuttle operation was established, using tankers to shuttle water from a fill point in Blodgett to the scene, he said. “Fire involvement made operations defensive, utilizing an elevated master stream and multiple hand-lines,” Novak said. “The fire was deemed under control after several hours and mutual aid companies returned to service. Scott County Rural units remained on scene for a short time ensuring the fire was extinguished before returning to service.” Responding agencies included Scott County Rural Fire Protection District, NBC Fire Protection District, Oran Fire Protection District, Miner Fire Department, Bertrand Fire Department, Sikeston Department of Public Safety Fire Division, Charleston DPS Fire Division, South Scott County EMS and the Scott County Sheriff’s Office.