LINCOLN COUNTY – By all accounts, Lincoln County residents and first responders weathered a recent severe weather event much better than many other Missouri communities. On March 14, intense winds and storms swept across the state causing pouring rain and hail, and destruction in its aftermath.

“Power outages peaked at approximately 3,500 locations, with most power restored within six hours,” said Quentin Laws, the county’s emergency management director. “Some outages took longer due to downed power lines. Overall, Lincoln County was fortunate, especially considering the significant devastation and loss of life reported elsewhere in the region and state.”

Throughout the day, the county responded to 100 fire calls. The Winfield -Foley Fire Protection District responded to 26 calls.

“It was moving fast throughout the day,” said Winfield-Foley Firefighter Jacob Emge. “We started off at 9:40 in the morning with a structure fire. That was about four or five hours of working in that one. Then just as soon as we cleared one call, we’d end up getting dispatched for another one. We did have a couple of lines down due to high winds but the whole rest of the day was pretty well just outside fires.”

By mid-morning, according to Michael Marlo, Lincoln County Fire Protection District chief, the winds gusts were becoming problematic. County-wide, the fire district responded to 16 outside fires. Marlo says some of the brush fires started the day before or earlier in the morning on March 14 prior to the storms and winds becoming challenging.

“The other reasons for the outside fires were accidental or electrical wires that fell down due to the high winds and then they’re still energized and they’ll arc on the ground, and they will start fires,” he said. “Then we had a few of them that occurred from discarded cigarettes. Friday was a grateful win. Our crews worked extremely hard.”

Later in the day, a local state of emergency was declared, according to Laws, as county resources reached its maximum capacity. A local state of emergency allows the county to officially request state help and resources and if necessary, assistance beyond Missouri.

Laws said no tornado touched down in the county, despite a tornado warning issued based upon radar velocity and other indicators from the National Weather Service in St. Louis.

In iffy weather situations, such as the one last week, Winfield-Foley Firefighter Jennifer Hollandsworth says it’s always best to err on the side of caution.

“In any situation, we’re going to have high winds, be very thoughtful about anything that’s burning from a cigarette butt to a barbecue pit to just wanting to sit up by your fire pit on your back porch,” she said. “It doesn’t take much for any controlled planned burn to turn into a not controlled burn and a call to us.”