An electric transmission line carrying 34,000 volts started a brush fire in House Springs on Friday (Feb. 3) that took 40 firefighters nearly four hours to extinguish.
Firefighters’ efforts were hampered by moderate winds and by the lack of roads near the fire, but no homes were threatened, said Joseph LaPlant, deputy chief for Saline Valley Fire Protection District.
“Several homes in the area lost power, though,” he said.
Saline Valley firefighters spotted the fire, high on a hill in a wooded area at the end of Blue Springs Road off Hwy. 21, when they were returning to House 3 after training, and called it in at 11:59 a.m. The first truck was on the scene at 12:13 p.m.
Firefighters had to stage their equipment in a resident’s field at the end of Blue Springs Road and relied on brush trucks to fight the fire. Those trucks carry from 60 to 300 gallons of water, LaPlant said.
“Fortunately, Ameren was already in the area to help firefighters,” he said.
Ameren personnel determined that the circuit breaker to the pole had already been tripped, but set controls at substations to ensure that power remained off in that location,
LaPlant said.
Firefighters from the Fenton, Mehlville, Antonia, High Ridge, Rock Community and Hillsboro fire protection districts assisted in fighting the fire, which spanned 10 to 12 acres.
“We used rakes to create a fire line, taking the area down to dirt surrounding the fire,” LaPlant said.
Firefighters used chainsaws to bring down burning trees and then extinguished them. They also brought two forestry hoses up the hill and into the woods to put out the hot spots.
The last truck went back into service at 3:48 p.m.
LaPlant said brush fires are not common this time of year but the lack of precipitation has been atypical.
“We don’t usually have many brush fires from January to March because rain and snow keep the ground moist, but this year the ground is dried out, and we’ve had more brush fires than usual,” LaPlant said.