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Officials: Stop burning until the region gets much-needed rain
MORLEY, Mo. — A multi-acre field fire damaged three structures and forced road closures along U.S. Highway 61 in Scott County Friday, Sept. 6, and fire crews continued to battle vegetation fires over the weekend and into Monday, Sept. 8 despite burn advisories and bans being in place.
At 1:48 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, the Scott County Rural Fire Protection District was paged to Highway 61, south of Morley, for a report of a large fire, according to Fire Chief Jeremy Perrien.
“Upon arrival, we were met with heavy fire conditions in a field with several structures in danger and roughly 20-mile-an-hour winds pushing out of the north, forcing the fire south at a very rapid rate,” Perrien said via the department's social media. “Two small structures were a total loss and another residence received extensive damage to the outside of the structure.”
Multiple agencies out of Scott County, New Madrid County, Stoddard County and Cape Girardeau County were called in to assist. In addition to Scott County Rural, agencies responding included Oran, NBC, Sikeston, Miner, Morehouse, Matthews, Charleston, Benton, Delta, Gordonville, Bloomfield and Bell City.
Crews worked for approximately four hours before the incident was deemed under control.
“After extinguishment of several hot spots and the termination of all operations, crews were released from the scene roughly six hours after the initial call came out,” Perrien said.
In addition to the 13 fire crews, they also had assistance from Scott County Sheriff's Office, Morley Police, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri Department, Ameren UE, South Scott EMS, Cookson Farms and Hulshof Farms. CB MetalworX also brought a skid steer and was a huge help to the incident, according to Perrien.
“This incident was not caused by any farmers burning,” Perrien said. “This was a subject burning trash on his property.
On Aug. 30 the Scott County Commission issued a no-burn advisory to the citizens of Scott County effective immediately.
“Due to high temperatures, low humidity, dry ground covering, the possibility of winds and lack of
precipitation in the forecast, citizens are advised to postpone open outdoor burning activities,” said Scott County Emergency Management Agency Director John Scott.
Due to the extent of the fire along the major highway, Perrien made the choice to close portions of the highway and surrounding roads for a few hours on Friday.
“To address the extremely rude and hateful folks that were upset that we shut U.S. Highway 61 down, I apologize for the inconvenience, but I will not apologize for putting the safety of the firefighters and emergency service workers first,” Perrien said. “As always when a burn advisory is put in place, we ask all county residents to abide by this order until further notice.”
Perrien said he wanted to thank each and every agency and person who responded Friday.
“The Morley VFW opened up for the agencies and fed them food and refreshments; that was very much appreciated,” Perrien said.
Drones were also utilized from Sikeston Department of Public Safety and the Miner Police Department to assist crews with locating hot spots within the dense, wooded areas, Perrien said.
“This also provided a bird's eye view for command to assist with fire operations and the placement of equipment,” Perrien said. “Also, a special thinks to Director Angie Rodgers of the Scott County 911 Emergency Service Board for assisting with traffic control at the beginning of the incident.”
However, Friday's vegetation fire was not the only one over the weekend. Scott County Rural Fire responded on Saturday, Sept. 7 to seven calls for service with five of those being vegetation fires, Perrien said. Four of the five were in the Scott County Rural Fire District; one of the fires, they assisted another agency. Around 10:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 9, multiple fire crews responded to two to three acres where a barn and shed were fully involved in the 200 block of Scott County Road 532. Several other structures were also in danger. Within 30 minutes or so, crews had the fire under control.
Perrien commended the Oran Fire District, Benton Fire Department, NBC Fire District, Sikeston Fire District, Morehouse Fire Dept, Scott County Sheriff's Office and South Scott EMS for their assistance throughout the weekend.
“Although I am very proud and thankful for the area fire districts, everyone is getting tired,” Perrien said. “We understand that accidents happen, but stop burning until we get some rain. Open-burning during a burn ban is a punishable offense, so please hold off on burning until we get some much-needed rain.”
The Board of Directors of the Scott County Rural Fire Protection District enacted a burn ban until further notice.
“The board of directors adopted an ordinance in 2022 establishing burn ban perimeters,” Perrien said via social media on Saturday. “With the dry conditions and winds, there is not to be any burning within the Scott County Rural Fire District.”
Scott County Presiding Commissioner Danny Tetley also reacted to Friday's fire which spanned 20 to 40 acres and asked residents to not burn anything until the region receives significant precipitation.
“People, it is dry, dry, dry,” Tetley said via his personal social media account Friday, Sept. 6. “We, the Scott County Commission, implemented a no-burn advisory last week. Please heed this warning and do not burn anything until we get a good, soaking rain.”
He also commended the fire crews.
“If not for the efforts of several fire departments responding extremely quickly, this could have been a tragedy,” Tetley said. “I tip my hat to all of the fire departments in our area and the first responders plus our Scott County Sheriff’s department in the handling of such a large fire and right along a major highway.”
Meanwhile, Scott said early Monday, Sept. 8, he put in a request with the state fire marshal for a no burn ban in Scott County.
When a county commission determines a burn ban is necessary, the county has to contact the Office of the State Fire Marshal for confirmation the ban is appropriate, the Scott County EMA director said, adding he didn't see any reason the fire marshal's office would deny the ban. Once issued, the county has responsibility for enforcing the burn ban.
However, according state statute 49.266.3(2), the ban does not include farmers, but Scott strongly encouraged them to wait to burn anything until the region gets more rain.
“Do not start any kind of fire at this time,” Scott advised.
He also said other surrounding counties are experiencing the same dry conditions, and many are looking into implementing burn bans.
Tetley also urged citizens to simply refrain from burning until conditions improve.
“Please don’t burn anything until we get rain,” the presiding commissioner pleaded. “Would hate for you to be the responsible party that caused someone to lose a home, a crop or even worse: a life.”