Smoke from this "massive" fire in southern Howell County could be seen from the Southern Hills Shopping Center in West Plains. (ORN Photo)
(Moody) – Firefighters from multiple departments fought what is being called a “massive” multi-acre fire in the Moody area in southern Howell County.
The fire started Thursday afternoon south on Route E. Howell County 911 received a call about a fire in a ditch at 4:23 PM.Firefighters from West Plains, Howell Rural, Moody, Bakersfield, Caulfield, Pottersville, and Lanton, along with departments from Arkansas were fighting the fire. Also on scene were officials with MoDOT, Howell-Oregon Electric, the Red Cross, the Howell County Sheriff’s Office, and South Howell County EMS.
A total of two barns and a well house were destroyed. Also, three pigs were killed in the 300-plus acre blaze.
One vehicle accident due to the amount of smoke in the area has been confirmed by the Highway Patrol. A two-car accident left six people injured, two of them seriously. Those two were taken by Air Evac to Mercy Hospital in Springfield.
Route E from the state line to the area near the fire was shut down. Crews cleared the scene at 2:04 AM Friday morning.
Witnesses in the area say that a vehicle that was dragging a tailgate that caused sparks which caught the field on fire.
The official cause of the fire is unknown.
Smoke still hung in the air early Friday morning as crews surveyed the over 300 acres burned by Thursday's fire. (ORN Photo)
One of the two barns destroyed by the Thursday fire. (ORN Photo)