Building torched at Otter Slough

DEXTER, Mo. -- A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for setting fire to a storage building and two vehicles at the Missouri Department of Conservation's Otter Slough area in Stoddard County overnight Thursday.

State Fire Marshal Jason Dunn combed through what remained of a cinder-block building at the conservation area Friday morning.

The 10-by-20-foot block building housed supplies, including pesticides, paint and other chemicals. Only the shell of the building remains. Parked behind the building were two Ford F-250 pickup trucks. Both were gutted by flames.

The damage was discovered just after 7 a.m. Friday when an employee, Jeremy Williams, found the building and the vehicles still smoldering.

A short time later, Dunn began to investigate the remains. A Dexter Fire Department brush fire truck was called at about 10 a.m. to extinguish the rubble that was smoldering.

Three fuel tanks sit within about 12 feet of the building that was destroyed, but did not ignite. Evidence of the fire could be seen in the trees surrounding the shed at least 30 feet high.

Conservation agent Mark Reed said the last employee to leave the facility Thursday departed about 7 p.m.

It is believed the fire would have caused more damage if not for an overnight rain.

Anyone with information about the fire is urged to call the fire marshal's office at 1-800-392-7766.

Information will be kept confidential upon request.

Pertinent address:

Otter Slough Conservation Area, Dexter, MO