damage in Nov. 2 fire
JACKSON — Volunteer firefighters responded to a structure fire at the Music for a Song store in the Jackson Outlet Village, Route 537, on Sunday afternoon.
According to a press release from the Cassville Volunteer Fire Company, the fire started in the storeroom of the music store and was reported to police at 3:58 p.m. The Cassville Volunteer Fire Company and the Jackson Mills Fire Company were alerted immediately. The first arriving fire officer, Cassville’s Acting Chief Keith Novak, was on scene at the mall within four minutes and confirmed the existence of a working fire.
The store’s sprinkler system had activated and was holding the fire in check in the storeroom. The first fire engine to arrive was unit 5417 which responded from Jackson Mills’ substation on West Commodore Drive, a short distance away from the mall.
Novak ordered the truck to the rear of the building to back up the sprinkler system. The crew then stretched a handline into the building to assist Cassville’s Capt. Russ Parrish in extinguishing what remained of the fire. The fire was placed under control in 20 minutes.
A crew from Cassville searched the interior of the store and adjacent stores with a thermal imaging camera to ensure that the fire had not spread into the walls or ceilings unseen.
Due to the size of the complex, an engine from neighboring Millstone Township was also called in as a precaution.
After the fire was extinguished, the fire official and fire inspector from the Jackson Township Fire District No. 2 Bureau of Fire Prevention conducted an investigation. According to the press release, they determined that the cause of the fire was a heat gun which had been left unattended in the storeroom and ignited some nearby cardboard.
District No. 2 fire official Dave Vanarsdale stressed how critical a role the properly functioning sprinkler system played in keeping the fire in check until firefighters arrived.
Novak reiterated that without the sprinkler system functioning as it did, the fire would have most likely caused a lot more property damage than it did and could have killed or injured scores of civilians, as the mall was open and very busy at the time of the call.
The store sustained only minor smoke and water damage and remained closed after the fire. The stores immediately adjacent to Music for a Song on either side were closed after the fire due to minor water damage and were expected to reopen on Nov. 3.
Firefighters remained on scene until about 6 p.m. while the investigation took place and until the sprinkler system contractor could place the system back in service after it activated, according to the press release.
Cassville Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 protects 65 square miles of southern and western Jackson and is staffed by more than 25 active volunteer firefighters.