Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884

Firefighters tackle late night structure blaze

Volunteer firemen from around the county came together in the early hours of Monday morning to fight a structure blaze at a county residence. Firefighters were successful in preventing it from spreading to a nearby shop.

“It was called in as a grass fire, but it was actually a structure fire,” says Doug Leis, Fire Warden. “The homeowners called it in…The lady told me their dog woke them up barking and they looked outside and saw the flames.”

The structure in question was a small outbuilding at a residence on Moon Court, near the Douglas Road off Windy Way.

“We never did really determine what caused it, but it burned up that little shed, a hay bale and whatever was in the shed, and some fence posts around it,” says Leis.

The home itself was never in any danger, Leis says, “But the shop was. It kind of singed the siding a little bit, but it didn’t catch it on fire.”

The call came in around 3 a.m., which made it a little more difficult than usual to contact volunteers. Firefighters from Sundance, Moorcroft and Pine Haven were able to respond and spent the next few hours bringing the flames under control.

“We got there probably about 3:45 a.m. and it was a little after 6 a.m. when we left,” he says.