Fire departments battle blazes across counties, urging residents to avoid outdoor burning

While there is not a red flag warning against fires today, local firefighters are asking residents to avoid burning outside and be extremely cautious.

Poplar Bluff Fire Department has responded to three structure fires since 4:30 a.m. Thursday. The first was on Arkansas Street, a second was t 8:10 a.m. at Eighth and Poplar streets and a third at 10:46 a.m. on Magnolia Street. Additional details on these fires will be shared as they become available.

The Logan Creek Fire Department in Ripley County shared that they battled an uncontrolled brush fire Wednesday with the assistance of the Doniphan and Current River fire departments.

“We believe this fire originated from a piece of metal roofing that flew off a building and caught the electric line, there by dropping it to the ground,” Logan Creek reported. “From there, the grass caught fire and wrapped back around to a side shed on the original structure.

Nearly all county fire departments have been busy (Wednesday) afternoon into the dark hours fighting uncontrolled fires. Kudos to All County firefighters that answered the calls today.”

Logan Creek put out a plea Thursday that residents be mindful of burning as winds of 10-20 mph were expected through the day.

“Fire departments in the county have all been busy these last few days and we selfishly are asking if we could have a rest,” the Ripley County department shared.

Reynolds County firefighters reported around 8 a.m. Thursday that all fires there had been contained and they were continuing to monitor locations.

“We ended up with 12 fires ranging from 75 acres to 500 acres,” the Northern Reynolds County Fire Protection District reported. “You may still see some smoke in areas today as unburned areas within the containment lines burn and some brush piles finish burning. If you see large plumes please report them to 911.”

As of 2 a.m. Thursday, they were still fight two fires, one near Taum Sauk Lower Lake and one South of Ellington.

The Reynolds County department thanked the Reynolds County 911 dispatch and Reynolds County Health Department for their work. The Reynolds County Sheriff’s Department also assisted with traffic control and spotting fires.

“Lastly but definitely not least, I would like to thank every fire personnel in Reynolds County that was on the fires,” officials said. “You guys were absolutely amazing. You worked from 7 in the morning until 2 or 3 the next morning without hesitation. Without this group yesterday’s response would not have been possible. I’m sorry if I missed anyone but if you were involved with the incident in any way, thank you.”

Carter County firefighters were busy with the Royal Oaks fire.

Butler County firefighters say they were relatively luck Wednesday, considering what surrounding areas faced.

Butler County crews responded to seven fires Wednesday. Of those, one was a car fire across from the main county highway fire department and another was a structure fire at Neelyville home. Firefighters were able to contain the structure fire to the front porch, according to reports.

Crews also responded to two field fires and three woods fires, each impacting less than one acre. The field fires were in the areas of county roads 589 and 581. The woods fires were in the areas of county roads 162 at 412, 462 and 343 at 338.