Chester FD responds to Perryville fire

<span>Six fire departments responded to a large fire in downtown Perryville late Monday night.</span>

<span>Chester was paged out for mutual aid to 213 N. Jackson St. at 11:37 p.m. Other fire departments assisting Perryville included Cape Girardeau, St. Mary, Biehle and Frohna.</span>

<span>The three-story building, which housed an archery store and feed store, is a total loss. Chester units arrived to find the structure fully involved and eight CFD firefighters - plus Fire Chief Marty Bert - took up defensive positions to prevent the fire from spreading to other buildings.</span>

<span>"We ran a tanker shuttle on the backside and protected several exposures," Bert said, referring to additional buildings that could catch fire. "We tried to keep it from spreading."</span>

<span>Bert noted that a key part of fighting the blaze was calm winds. If Wednesday's predicted wind gusts of up to 35 mph occurred Monday, it may have been a different story.</span>

<span>"If we had that, we would probably lose another building or two," Bert said.</span>

<span>CFD units were released from the scene at 3:12 a.m. and were back in service at 3:55 a.m.</span>

<span>"They had a good water supply through their hydrants and we only had three tankers," Bert said. "Most fires in (Chester), we can handle with 1,000 gallons of water on each pumper and 3,000 on the tanker.</span>

<span>"Usually when you roll up on a small structure fire, you can take care of that with the water on the trucks."</span>

<span>The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. No one was inside when the fire started and Bert said heavy timber inside the building may have contributed to the fire's ferocity.</span>

<span>The Herald Tribune will have further information as it becomes available.</span>