Wildfires and Severe Weather Prompt State of Emergency Declared in Camden County

The lake area may have escaped any confirmed tornadoes but a State of Emergency was declared Friday night in Camden County following an outbreak of dozens of wildfires and other severe weather that pushed across the region.

Presiding Commissioner Ike Skelton making reading the declaration….“Therefore, we get the board of county commissioners here in the county, Missouri hereby declare that the state of emergency exists in Camden County, Missouri, and we hereby invoke and declare in full force in effect, all law statutes for the State of Missouri, Camden County, Missouri, for the exercise all necessary emergency authority for the protection of the lives and property of the people of Camden County.”

At one point during the fires, statewide mutual aid was requested and several areas in the western part of the county were under evacuation orders without enough fire personnel to battle the raging fires.  There were also shelters set up at the First Baptist Church and the high school in Macks Creek for those forced from their homes.

With at least 30 different fires and 6-10 buildings going up in flames, Camden E-M-A Director John Scheper described the situation as critical and unheard of in Missouri.

“Wildland fire danger right now is just completely off the charts. So essentially it’s on a scale of 0 to I believe 120. Right now we’re at 101. You just don’t see those kind of numbers in Missouri.”

The emergency management agency says the E-O-C was activated with the county Road and Bridge Department providing heavy equipment and the sheriff’s office coordinating with the Unified Command.

The E-M-A was in the process of gathering information over the weekend.

Anyone with unreported damage in Camden County is encouraged to contact the E-M-A.