Fire evacuates The Palms
SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Firefighter Morgan Wheeler directs water on a fire behind The Palms on Tuesday afternoon.
MARYVILLE, Mo. — What began as a small trash fire behind The Palms around 2 p.m. on Tuesday grew to a large dumpster blaze taking out at least two bicycles and beginning to contact the back wall of the restaurant.
According to Maryville Fire Chief Jace Pine the fire began outside of the dumpster before finding its way to the back wall of the building.
“I can’t say for sure whether it was a grease fire or a dumpster fire,” he said.
Firefighters arrived in the nick of time to stop progression into the building.
Firefighter Morgan Wheeler took down the fire saying that they stayed far away from the site for safety.
“We knew it was a lot of hard pushing, turbulent fire with not a lot of wind so generally that makes us think there’s something in there that could explode on us,” she said. “So we kinda hit it from far back.
“We appreciate Evergy coming because was right over their power lines. We did melt the box, so that’s another thing we can’t get water on the power lines or in there. We appreciate them coming fast and pulling that so it’s not a safety issue for us anymore. So we appreciate them for that.”
Located directly behind the building and the dumpster area on the other side of the alley between Fourth and Fifth streets is an electrical substation, so quick actions were made.
Utilizing an electronic heatseeking device, firefighters pulled off the exterior metal and focused the water on the hot spots, making certain the fire didn’t penetrate the building.
“There’s no extension into the building,” Pine said. “We had to do a little bit of an overhaul just to make sure there was nothing burning inside the building.”
Just before firetrucks arrived, restaurant cook Alejandro Guzman took to the ramp at the rear of the building with a small fire extinguisher doing what he could.
He told The Forum, that he had the extinguisher and wanted to help.
Owner of the restaurant Dee Marriott was on scene watching the firefighters at work and talking with her staff in the parking lot after they were evacuated from the building.
No one was injured in the fire.
SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Alejandro Guzman works with a small fire extinguisher before firefighters arrive on Tuesday afternoon behind The Palms.
SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Fighting the fire in front of Maryville Fire Chief Jace Pine, firefighter Morgan Wheeler lets loose a stream of water on a fire behind The Palms on Tuesday afternoon.
SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Maryville firefighters take pieces of metal off the exterior of The Palms on Tuesday afternoon to be certain that no fire has penetrated the rest of the restaurant.
SKYE POURNAZARI/THE FORUM
Utilizing a heat seeking electronic device, Maryville firefighters spray down the hot spots after a fire at The Palms on Tuesday afternoon.
