Simultaneous fires spread HFD thin

To say Sunday night was a busy one for the Hannibal Fire Department is like describing October with its record rainfall total as a damp month. Hannibal firefighters were already on the scene of a blaze at Buckhorn Rubber when a second structure fire call was received regarding a house at 709 Pine St.
“We were stretched pretty thin. We had roughly almost two shifts that were called last night,” said Bill Madore, deputy fire chief. “As far as the department that’s the most I’ve seen us taxed in my time here in the administration.”
As Hannibal firefighters battled the blazes, the fire chiefs of Palmyra and Hannibal Rural were advised of the situation.
“We weren’t requesting any mutual aid at that point and time, but we wanted to just give them the heads up of what we were dealing with here in Hannibal so in case we had anything further we would more than likely have to request mutual aid,” said Madore.
When the second blaze was reported at approximately 10:30 p.m., a fire engine and the department’s rescue truck, along with approximately a dozen firefighters, were released from the Buckhorn fire to head to Pine Street.
“The initial engine company reported smoke showing when they arrived and immediately started an offensive attack,” said Madore, who was among those responding to Pine Street. “Those firefighters found heavy fire and smoke in the back kitchen area. It was under control in five minutes or so.”
No one was living in the structure, which has been under renovation.
“The property manager, who had just come into town and was going to do some work on the structure, discovered smoke in the building,” said Madore.
An investigator with the state fire marshal’s office ruled the blaze accidental, citing the source an electric stove that had been left on.
Madore praised the work of firefighters Sunday night, both at Buckhorn and on Pine Street.
“They did well, real well,” he said. “It’s bittersweet when we get to use our training because it comes at someone else’s loss. It’s tough, but when we’re able to exercise our training and perform well the way they did last night you can’t help but have some positive results.”