The Antonia Fire Protection District reported people likely will continue to see smoke in the area of a recent fire that destroyed a barn in the 6300 block of Kneff Road in Imperial.
Today, Aug. 20, the district reported approximately 200 large hay bales were still burning on the property, producing smoke that may be visible or smelt.
Antonia Fire personnel evaluated the situation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and it was determined that the safest and most effective way to deal with the situation was to allow the hay to burn under controlled and closely monitored conditions, the district said in a statement today.
“Due to the large quantity and tightly packed nature of the hay, applying large volumes of water would not effectively penetrate the deeply seated, smoldering material and may unnecessarily prolong the incident,” Antonia Fire said in the statement. “Current conditions indicate that the remaining hay may continue to burn and smolder for several days and potentially for up to two weeks.”
Antonia Fire officials said firefighters are continuing to monitor the property to make sure conditions do not change or create a threat to the area.
“Our priorities are to keep the fire contained to the affected property, protect nearby homes and structures and take additional action if conditions change,” the department’s statement said. “We understand that the presence of smoke and odor over an extended period may be concerning. However, this is a deliberate and coordinated management strategy based on conditions at the scene and recommendations from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.”
Antonia Fire officials ask people in the area not to call 911 solely to report smoke originating from the barn. The district also said people should call 911 if they believe the fire has spread from the area of the barn or for other emergencies.
The barn was destroyed by fire on Tuesday, Aug. 18. Antonia Fire was called at 5:42 p.m. about the fire, and the first truck arrived at 5:48 p.m., Assistant Chief Bobby Chrisco said.
He said the initial report was for a residential fire, but when firefighters arrived, they saw an approximate 7,500-square-foot metal barn engulfed in flames.
“We struck a second alarm for manpower due to the amount of fire involved,” Chrisco said. “We ultimately ended up calling a third alarm for additional resources.”
Chrisco said the fire was under control at 8:28 p.m., and Antonia Fire cleared the scene at 1:34 a.m. Aug. 19. He said the barn’s owner reported the blaze, and no people or animals were injured by the fire.
Chrisco said he did not know if animals lived in the barn. He said there was a herd of cows in a nearby field.
Chrisco said the cause of fire was unknown, but investigators determined there was nothing suspicious. He said the barn fire presented unique challenges to firefighters.
“Typically, contents in a barn are packed tighter and there is more combustible machinery that you obviously would not find in a living room,” he said. “The challenges were size (of the barn), size of the fire, location and combustible materials.”
The Dunklin, Goldman, High Ridge, Hillsboro, Rock Community and Saline Valley fire protection districts, as well as the Herculaneum Fire Department, assisted on the call. The Rock Township Ambulance District also responded to the call, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office provided traffic control in the area.