Responders were on scene for approximately 5 ½ hours
By Jim Beers
MCBRIDE, Mo. == At 3:37 a.m. Thursday morning October 23 the Chester Fire Department was called out to a fire at the Gilster Mary-Lee Box Plant in McBride, Missouri at 8366 North Highway 51. The request was for mutual aid to assist at the scene of a fire inside the plant.
A second alarm was sounded at 3:39 a.m.
A third alarm was sent by Perryville.
According to Marty Bert, Chester Fire Chief, Chester sent two trucks to the scene. Bert later requested help from Ellis Grove. Perryville also requested mutual aid from Ste. Genevieve and a few other towns in the Southeast Missouri area. The Perryville, Missouri Fire Department had the lead in the call.
Chief Bert said, “The actual fire was discovered due to the fact that the sprinkler system that protects both the Gilster Mary-Lee Box Plant and Cereal Plant across the highway, indicated that the water pressure for the system had gradually been getting lower. That reduction in pressure was getting lowere since approximately 1 a.m. until the fire was discovered at the Box Plant.”
“Once employees at the Cereal Plant realized that the pressure had still continued to lower, they began to look around to see what was causing the pressure to lower. Once they eliminated the Cereal Plant as the cause, they went across the street to check out the Box Plant. It is there that they discovered the issue in the Box Plant. Apparently the sprinkler system had been running since about 1 a.m., before the fire was discovered and reported at 3:37 a.m.”
Bert said that when Chester arrived at the scene, smoke was so very heavy inside the plant that responders could not enter the building to fight the fire or locate the area in which the fire had started. It took approximately 45-minutes to allow the smoke to dissipate before fire fighters entered the building. No apparent flames were noticed, just lots of thick smoke.
By that time there were at least six fire departments that had responded with manpower and at least 12 fire engines and tanker trucks. The Power Company and medical emergency personnel had also arrived.
Once smoke had cleared most of the building, firemen and fire women entered the building and located the area where the fire had originated. No major flames were present, however, numerous bundles of cardboard and boxes were still smoldering, and were still potential dangers to erupt if not taken out of the building.
Chief Bert said, “Once we could see the area where the fire was located, we used a Bobcat and Tow Motor to remove the smoldering bundles out of the building where they were able to hose them down until they were no longer a risk.”
Bert also stated, “Apparently the sprinkler system had been working for about 1 1/2 hours keeping the fire from spreading or getting out of control. The sprinkler system really worked well and saved the building from receiving any major damage.”
According to Bert, the area that was directly affected was approximately only a 20’ X 20’ area. He was not able to determine the cause of the fire, but did say that the action of the employees who found the cause of the reduced water pressure and discovered the building that was on fire, the actual effectiveness of the sprinkler system, and the quick response of the various fire departments, kept the situation from being much worse than it turned out to be!
Tom Welge, President of Gilster Mary-Lee, said, “Thankfully, the area that was directly involved was small, and not a lot of equipment was damaged by the fire. The sprinkler system really helped control the fire and most of the damage was limited to lost cardboard and the cost of cleanup. Smoke and smoldering bundles were the biggest issues. I am thankful for the fact that we had lots of help and kept the situation under control.”
Chief Bert said, “The Fire Marshal will try and determine the cause of the fire. At this time we do not know. We were on scene until 9 a.m.”
Box Plant Superintendent, Jason Fudge, said, “We have been working all day on cleanup. This morning after the fire departments left we had about two-to-three inches of water on the floor. The smoldering bundles of cardboard were drug out of the building and hosed down by the fire department. As they were fully safe and totally smothered, the debris was put into dumpsters to be hauled away. That process made a huge mess on the parking lot besides the building. That all had to be cleaned up and resurfaced.”
Fudge continued, “The area where the fire occurred was thankfully very small. Not much damage was done to the physical plant, just to the cardboard boxes in that area. We were lucky that the sprinklers kept things under control. We are not sure when we can be up and running. We did try some of the machinery today and it worked. Everything hasn’t been turned on, however, so we are not sure if there may be difficulties with those machines.”
“Crews are working very hard to clean up the mess inside the affected areas. Hopefully we can return to business-as-usual, soon. We are very thankful for the great response of all of the fire personnel that worked hard all night to get the situation under control.”
Once smoldering cardboard boxes were dragged out of the Box Plant, they were taken to this parking area and separated, sprayed, and then loaded into a huge dumpster for dumping. The process created a terribly messy lot which had to be totally re-surfaced once all rubbish was loaded and hauled off. Jim Beers Photo
This is the entryway into the Box Plant. This area was covered with 2-to-3 inches of water following the completion of the fire call. Employees spent much of the day cleaning up after emergency personnel vacated the scene. Jim Beers Photo
This is the small 20 X 20 area in which the fire was contained. Quick response and a very effective sprinkler system helped to keep damage to a minimum in this area. Jim Beers Photo
This is a front view of the Box Plant following a day of clean up and restoration. During the fire this area was full of fire vehicles and emergency personnel. Jim Beers Photo