Around 1 am Monday morning about a dozen WPCFR members responded to a structure fire on Gee Creek Rd. with 4 engines and 2 tankers. Polk County Sheriff Bill Davis was first on scene and relayed the information that the structure was a mobile home, totally involved with a live power wire on the ground. Volunteer Electric responded to disconnect the power.

The structure was a loss, but no-one was injured in the fire. According to Fire Chief Steve Lofty, the early reports were that a fire started on the kitchen stove and spread to the rest of the  home. Firefighters initially heard there were possibly two people inside but that turned out not to be the case.

Engine 16 arrived first, followed by Engine 17, tanker 17, Engine 18, Engine 11 and tanker 11. Capt. Wesley Davis setup fire ground control and Capt Elliot and Chiefs Lofty and Miller supported the operations until the fire was controlled and suppressed, which took about 2 hours.

Less that 1500 gallons of water was needed to control and suppress the fire. Lofty said tactics deployed in training on fire suppression have helped limit water use and lowered the possible water damage and work load on the firefighters . There was a total of 7750 gallons of water delivered in trucks to the fire site all within minutess of the first arriving engine.

Lofty offered special thanks to the Sheriff’s Office and EMS for helping during this fire.

WPCFR is completely volunteer and is open to any resident 18 or older. There is also an Explorer program for youth 14-21 who are interested in finding out more about the fire/rescue service before becoming a full member.

Membership meetings are held the first and third Tuesdays of each month at Station 1, behind the former courthouse in Benton.