Quick action keeps fire from spreading in storage unit

GORDONVILLE, Mo. -- Firefighters avoided disaster Friday when they extinguished a blaze in a storage unit before it reached 15 pallets of fireworks on the second floor of the building at Greenbrier and Route K near Gordonville.

Roy DaVault of DaVault Landscaping said he was cutting a bolt for a ramp he was making when a spark hit one of more than 20 bales of hay in the storage unit below the fireworks.

He first tried to kick out the small fire but succeeded in only spreading the blaze, so he called 911.

DaVault managed to get a truck and other items out of the storage unit, singing the hair off his arms. Then he closed the doors, containing the fire.

That action saved firefighters a lot of risk and work, said John Sachen, training officer for the Delta Fire Department. "Otherwise it would have been one healthy fire," he said.

Aware that Hillcrest Manor Subdivision was nearby, firefighters from Gordonville, Fruitland, Millersville and Cape Girardeau responded.

Sachen happened to be driving along Route K at the time and was the first firefighter on the scene.

Orange placards on the two-story building alerted him to the fact that fireworks were inside.

"That gave us a significant advantage," said Sachen, an expert in hazardous materials and explosives. When fireworks or any blasting agents are confined to a small space they can burn quickly enough to explode.

The fireworks and spare lumber belong to Kinder Enterprises Inc., which also owns the storage unit. The concrete building itself is fire-resistant and the placards and other information from DaVault all reduced the risk, Sachen said.

John Peters of Gordonville Fire District said smoke was blowing out of two closed doors when he arrived, but the fire was contained in one storage unit.

"Mr. DaVault gave us a good clue as to what was inside the building." Peters said. He told firefighters mostly hay was burning and warned them of gas cans and other flammables.

Firefighters used a piercing nozzle to punch a hole in the door and prevent air from getting in to give the fire more life.

Southeast Missourian photographer Fred Lynch contributed to this report.

abuchanan@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160