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Downtown Soso Inferno
May 22, 2009
By Jason Niblett, newseditor@laurelleadercall.com
March 09, 2009 01:10 pm
— Twelve volunteer fire departments from Jones and Jasper Counties were joined by the Laurel Fire Department while trying to stop a huge fire at a Soso business from spreading to other nearby buildings early Sunday.
Flames and smoke could be seen shooting out of the roof of the building that has been home for several years to what’s commonly called “the pool hall” on Hwy. 28 in Soso. The business was very near an upholstery shop, western clothing store, and town offices.
A volunteer firefighter was transported to South Central Regional Medical Center for injuries received while fighting the fire. The volunteer was said to have broken two ribs.
Soso VFD Chief Glen Musgrove said the call came into central dispatch about 6:19 a.m. He said the first firefighters were on the scene by 6:26 a.m.
“We went from a dead sleep to pumping water in seven minutes,” Musgrove said. “That’s pretty good response time for volunteers.”
Musgrove said about 11 volunteers from Soso were the first responders.
“We had heavy flames coming out of the rear of the building. It had already gotten into the attic. We fought it as best we could until we could get some help,” Musgrove said.
“The fire was huge,” Powers Assistant Chief Lance Chancellor said. “I have not seen that many fire trucks at one fire in a long time.”
Jones County Fire Coordinator Dan McKenna praised firefighters for their efforts in stopping the spread of the flames.
“It had the potential to be a massive fire,” McKenna said. “It was already a pretty large fire.”
Jones County volunteer firefighters came from Calhoun, Soso, Hebron, Pleasant Ridge, Glade, Ovett, South Jones, Powers, and Shady Grove. The Laurel Fire Department sent its ladder truck and Jasper County dispatched Stringer and Moss. The Jones County Emergency Management Agency, Jones County Fire Coordinator, Soso Police Department, Jones County Sheriff’s Department, Jones County District Attorney’s Office, and EmServ each responded, as did utility companies.
Some other volunteers also responded from the American Red Cross - Pine Belt Chapter.
“Thank God they came out,” Chancellor said. “They had breakfast and drinks for everyone.”
“The Red Cross is a big asset to firefighters,” Musgrove added.
Musgrove, who was one of the volunteers who battled the huge fire that destroyed a large portion of downtown Ellisville in the 1980s, said memories of that fire were fresh on his mind. But, firefighters were able to keep a neighboring building from receiving damage, despite the huge fire that destroyed the pool hall.
“It could have easily turned into an Ellisville 1985-ish fire when they had a whole block burn down,” Musgrove said. “To have a fire raging like this one was, that’s an accomplishment to keep it off that building. We knew we could not save that building, but we could save other buildings.”
Musgrove also expressed gratitude to other firefighters.
“We had a crew of people and not one too many,” Musgrove said. “Your support is greatly appreciated.”
Saying between 50,000 and 50,000 gallons of water were used on the fire, Musgrove also mentioned the help from Jasper county.
“We’ve established a good relationship with them,” Musgrove said. “We’ve trained with them a couple of times. They don’t know a county line and we don’t know a county line when it comes to helping out.”
Investigators from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department, Jones County District Attorney’s Office, and the Jones County Fire Council were on the scene Sunday afternoon investigating the cause of the fire.
“The only way you can determine the cause of a fire is by digging it out,” McKenna said.
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