PIKE: Fire destroys house north of Nebo
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By BETH ZUMWALT
Beth Zumwalt/Pike Press
Firefighters from Spring Creek, Pleasant Hill and North Calhoun arrived at a report of a house fire Saturday afternoon around 5:30 p.m. Upon arrival they found an abandoned house totally engulfed. The departments stayed on the scene to prevent spreading, but the house was a loss.
A late afternoon fire destroyed an abandoned house on County Highway 7, two miles north of Nebo, Saturday afternoon.
Spring Creek Fire Chief Josh Martin said the house was too far gone when they arrived.
“It went fast,” Martin said. “There had been a hole in the roof for sometime and the inside was probably pretty rotten. There was nothing we could do.”
Gary Draper owned the house, according to Martin, who said Draper did not live in the area.
Martin said a brush pile was burning behind the house.
“The wind shifted about that time and it was from the west,” Martin said. “The farm ground tenant had been checking on the fire all day and had just checked it right before we got the call.”
Martin said Pleasant Hill, Spring Creek and North Calhoun all responded to the fire.
“If we had needed more water, I would have called East Pike,” Martin said. “But, it was so far gone. We only used 7,000 gallons of water on it.”
Martin said a recently signed automatic aid agreement with North Calhoun was helpful in the fire. They brought water and manpower.
“We had signed a automatic aid agreement with North Calhoun Fire District in June,” Martin said. “For the past 16-17 years, when ever Pleasant Hill or Spring Creek were paged out, the other was paged also. Now in addition to those two, North Calhoun will be automatically paged.”
Martin said since the Nebo fire Saturday was directly in the middle of the district, North Calhoun, which has firehouses in Kampsville and Hamburg, brought two trucks from Hamburg and one from Kampsville.
“If it had been closer to Pearl, they would probably had a bigger response from Kampsville,” Martin said.”It just depends on where the incident is located.”
Martin said Spring Creek and Pleasant Hill have assisted North Calhoun in a house fire since the agreement was signed.
“If we or they get to scene we can radio them and tell them to run non-emergency or to turn around and go home, if we don’t need them,” Martin said. “We had them come Saturday due to the heat.”
Martin said the agreement was necessary due to low numbers in all departments, especially during the day when firefighters work out of the area.
“We have about 20 on our roster,” Martin said. “Pleasant Hill is up to around 10 and North Calhoun has about 20. But, during the day, our numbers in all departments are low.”
