The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published March 29, 2023

Cancelled fire call becomes real

OSAGE BEACH – Last Sunday (March 19) the Osage Beach Fire Protection District (OBFPD) was dispatched to a call of a fire alarm sounding at Hawks Nest Lodge.

The alarm was initially thought to be someone taking a shower and onsite management advised the alarm company to cancel responding units.

The responding fire companies cancelled their response but per policy, Chief 4 continued on to the location to confirm, which ended up being a possible lifesaving move.

Management attempted to reset the alarm but when doing so the alarm tripped immediately. When checking the area again they heard screaming from a room and noticed smoke coming from the door frame.

The alarm was immediately dispatched as a working fire and at 11:45 a.m., units upgraded their response to a commercial structure fire with smoke coming from a room at the rear of the building.

Management forced entry into the room where a female victim was found, who self extricated from the room.

Management used a fire extinguisher to knock back the bulk of the fire.

The female was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Fire crews checked for fire extension and found that the fire was contained to the room of origin.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the state fire Marshall’s office.

This was the second fire in a 48 hour shift for the district.

“We would like to stress the importance of treating every alarm sounding as a working fire,” an OBFPD spokesman said. “We do not know until we arrive if there is or is not a fire. We prepare for the worst but always hope for the best.

“Many of our alarm sounding calls are often false alarms but we do not treat them as such for reasons just like this.”

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