SW Camden Fire Says Area Mutual Aid Was A “Lifesaver” In Wildfire Battle

Despite having to reply to more natural cover fires on Sunday, the Southwest Camden County Fire District has had a short-lived chance to regroup from the four major wildfire blazes within the district on Friday.

Southwest Captain Zack O’Daniel says the situation could’ve been a lot worse but a silver lining to the day was that there were no homes reported as destroyed.

“We did lose a bunch of garages and sheds and chicken houses, you know, things like that.”

O’Daniel also told KRMS News that the Southwest District is beyond grateful to those who came from near and far to provide mutual aid.

“I think I’ve seen a Dunnigan truck, I’ve seen a Sedalia truck. We had people quite a ways out. We had Bolivar, Polk County people, we had people from everywhere, rush trucks, strike teams and engines and tankers and, and honestly, I still don’t think we had enough mutual aid. If we wouldn’t have got that rain, it could have been a lot worse.”

Captain O’Daniel went on to say, with the forecast ahead, critical fire danger still exists and Red Flag Warnings…meaning no open burning is being allowed…are in effect until we get more rain, most likely now not until at least Friday.