It took the combined efforts of nine fire departments from mid-Missouri to put out a fire that destroyed the Hedges-Scott Funeral Home in Camdenton Sunday, according to Mid-County Fire Protection District Chief Scott Frandsen.
Hampered by the extreme cold, a snow storm and slick roads, 52 firefighters who were on the scene not only fought the fire but also had to deal with frozen equipment and mild hypothermia injuries throughout the long ordeal.
In a news release sent out on Monday, Frandsen said his department was called to the scene of the fire at 1270 South Business Missouri 5 in Camdenton at 8:34 a.m., Jan. 17.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, they discovered the building was fully engaged with heavy smoke being emitted from the second floor and attic areas.
By the time firefighters entered the building, the attic was already fully engulfed in flames. A second alarm was struck at 8:39 a.m. and multiple water lines were employed in the interior of the building. However, within five minutes the entire front canopy of the building collapsed. No firefighters were injured, but several of the water lines were buried in the rubble, Frandsen said.
New lines were deployed at 9:17 a.m. when a third alarm was struck bringing more resources to the scene. Although multiple Lake Area fire districts responded to the alarm, the heavy snow that was falling at the time along with slick roads caused problems for the trucks coming into the area.
At one point a firefighter on the second floor became disoriented and had to be rescued by other crew members, however he was quickly brought out of the inferno and was not injured, Frandsen said.
Responding units deployed ladder trucks, and firefighters attacked the blaze while suspended in buckets high above the building.
As soon as the main body of the fire was knocked down, crews re-entered the building with hand lines and finished extinguishing the blaze.
The fire was finally brought under control at about 12.30 p.m., however crews remained on the scene fighting hot spots and keeping the situation under control until 4 p.m.
Frandsen said the Mid-County fire inspector and an inspector with the Missouri Fire Marshall's Office believe the fire started in the attic near a furnace and ruling it as accidentally started by that furnace.
Although the building is a total loss, firefighters were able to save a number of computers and business records that were in the office section of the building.
In all 22 pieces of equipment and 52 firefighters were involved in fighting the blaze. Tanker trucks shuttled more than 150,000 gallons of water to the scene and because of the extreme cold supervisors were forced to rotate crew members on and off the job to protect against severe hypothermia, Frandsen said.
In addition to the Mid County Fire District, the Camdenton Fire Department, Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District, Osage Beach Fire Protection District, Tri-County Fire Protection District (Richland), the Lebanon City Fire Department, rural Lebanon Fire Protection District and the Eldon Fire Department all had equipment and crews on the scene, and the St. Robert Fire Department sent crews to cover the Mid-County station while those crews were on the scene of the fire. The Camden County Sheriff's Department, the Camdenton Police Department and the Mercy Emergency Medical Service ambulance also provided support during the fire.