Last night felt like the classic “perfect storm” to many first responders across Missouri. From police responding to wind-caused traffic collisions to city firefighters battling fires from sparking power lines, the high winds caused myriad emergencies across large swaths of the state. On Mark Twain National Forest, firefighters focused on wildfire response yesterday evening and late into the night.
USDA Forest Service, federal and state partners, and many local and volunteer fire departments worked side-by-side to catch the starts as quickly as possible. The majority were stopped before they could do serious damage. Despite everyone’s best efforts, the incredible winds did drive a couple fires to larger sizes before they were stopped. In total, Forest Service firefighters responded to twenty-one separate incidents across the Forest’s response areas (fifteen on Forest and six on private) yesterday. Despite the winds being over 40 mph, and higher with gusts, the combined total of burned area for the fires was less than 600 acres.
As of Saturday morning, all fires have had forward progression halted, have containment line around them, and are being monitored to catch any flare-ups. The Elliott Fire on the Houston Ranger District near Laquey, grew to 145 acres before it was able to be stopped during the high winds. The Turley and Turley 2 Fires on the Eleven Point Ranger District totaled around 190 acres. The Bunker Hill Fire, west of Potosi, was stopped after burning around 50 acres. The Kentucky Hollow Fire on the Ava Ranger District was held at around 30 acres. Crews were also successful at keeping the Seligman Fire, which started the night prior, from gaining ground despite the winds.
“I want to thank everyone that was out there assisting with wildfire response last night,” stated Allen Briggs, Mark Twain National Forest’s assistant fire management officer. Allen added that without everyone working together, things could have gone much worse. Many volunteer fire departments and municipal fire departments were on the front lines of fires across the state yesterday and their actions were nothing short of heroic.
Three confirmed tornadoes developed from the storm system last night. The tornadic winds undoubtedly caused significant damage to some parts of the Forest. Crews will scout the Forest in the coming weeks to assess the full extent of the damage.
“Stopping wildfires remains our top priority on the Forest through the weekend,” stated Briggs.
The southern part of the Forest is expected to have continued high winds today, and weather predictions call for more weather that could lead to wildfires in the coming days. Please be vigilant in preventing wildfires on the Forest and on your property.
