Scary moments in Fishhook Thursday afternoon

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By BETH ZUMWALT

Thursday afternoon in Fishhook was full of anxious moments. A house fire that was out of control before it was noticed. The fire, which started on the southeast corner of the intersection in Fishhook  spread across the road, damaging the siding on the Fishhook Town Hall, and jumping fence into an already harvested field, scouring about two acres.

“”We were really lucky the wind wasn’t strong and coming from the south east,”Jerry Dougherty, a Fishhook mainstay, said. “If it had been, we would have lost my store, the town hall and the church.”

The resident of the home, Richard Follis, was not home at the time of the fire.

“I knew he had a some pets,” Dougherty said. “I kicked the door in to see if I could get them out. They weren’t there. He had taken them with him. The fire came out the door at me.”

Dougherty said he then ran around to the back of the house to shut off the propane tank.

Alvin Bentley and his sister were driving by and saw the fire about 2 p.m.

“They called 9-1-1 and then called me,” Dougherty said. “After I got there, I called 9-1-1 again to update them on the situation.”

Jeff Butler, fire chief of the North Pike Fire Protection District, said the fire was every fire chief in Pike County’s worst fear.

“It happened in the middle of the day, when we are always short on manpower,” Butler said. “Plus there is no water out there. We put about 20,000 gallons of water on it and all of it was hauled in.”

Butler said six different fire departments responded to the fire, but, only 12 firefighters were on the scene at the height of the fire.

“Griggsville always goes, when we go, Baylis, Liberty, Pittsfield, Meredosia. I had dispatch call all of them. They all came and brought water, but, just like the rest of us, they had no manpower.”

Butler said he was first on the scene and the siding on the town hall was already melting.

“There was no reason for us to go into the house,” Butler said. “But, we couldn’t have if there had been. We didn’t have the manpower.”

Butler said they were lucky to keep the fire as contained as they did.

“The field fire, trying to protect the store, the township building,  the church to the east and the one to the north, we had a full plate, “ he said.

Dougherty said if the fire had gotten into his building, it would have been disastrous. He estimates his building was built in 1916 out of native lumber.

“The house was here before the store, so I’m guessing it was built late 1800s or early 1900s” Dougherty said.

Butler said he had no idea how to fix the firefighter shortages, especially during the day, when so many able bodied individuals work out of town.

“We try to recruit,” Butler said “But all we usually get is ‘I don’t have time.’”

Butler said being a firefighter is not all that time consuming.

“We have meeting twice a month and at one of those we train,” he said. “Right now we have two guys who have joined in the last six months and we try to work with them more often if they have time.”

Butler would offer no theory on how the fire started. He said the fire marshals office was called to the scene and they would make the determination.

“I don’t know how they will investigate,” Butler said. “There is nothing left to investigate.