Firefighter Injured at Firehouse During Outage
By Echo Menges
Ameren Missouri customers lost power for a few hours on Thursday, December 16, 2021, after a power pole in rural Knox County caught on fire.
“This line was part of a construction project and had been covered up with insulating blankets. The high wind had evidently blown off the cover up blankets allowing the hot wire to arc long enough to catch the pole on fire,” said Ameren spokesperson Annette Sweet.
The Baring Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire, which was located along the north side of Highway K just west of the Highway EE junction at approximately 8:03 p.m. The fire went out on its own after power to the lines was turned off by an Ameren Technician at approximately 9:06 p.m.
Ameren Technicians repaired the line and pole, restoring power about 2.5 hours later.
Following the response, a firefighter was injured at the Baring Firehouse. When the fire trucks returned to the firehouse, the large rollup doors had to be manually opened, due to the power outage.
A firefighter fell from a ladder and hit his head on the concrete below. The firefighter was airlifted to the University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia. Fortunately, the firefighter was able to return home the following day and is recovering from the fall.
