While many were anticipating the excitement of a traditional Christmas morning, Ozark County firemen awoke early to the call of duty, ending about 14 hours later, as they battled three fires.In this week’s Ozark County Times cover story, more details have emerged regarding the three tragedies.Bakersfield Volunteer Fire Department Chief Greg Watts says he awoke to his emergency radio’s alarm at 1:47 Christmas morning.Watts and four other firefighters from his department responded to a structure fire at the Tom Turner home on County Road 588, just south of Bakersfield near the Missouri-Arkansas line. Joining them were firemen from departments at Dora, Tecumseh, Caulfield and Gamaliel.
Talking with the homeowner, firemen learned everyone was out of the home. Watts learned Turner’s son Brett had gotten up around 1:45 and realized the house was on fire.
Brett Turner ran to a bedroom where his 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son were sleeping on a bunk bed, grabbed the two children and ran outside with them. By then, his dad had also awakened and had left his bedroom to exit the home.
After the fire was extinguished, Watts noticed the charred Christmas gifts; some packages were completely ash, others slightly burned.
He says, “When you notice these Christmas presents under the tree, and you have your own kids, it hits close to home. It’s a sad, sad deal.”
The cause of the fire is believed to be an electrical issue within the home’s oven.
Watts says both children were uninjured, but Brett Turner reportedly sustained second-degree burns to his head, face and neck when he opened the door to the kids’ bedroom. He was transported to an area hospital, treated and released.
Tom Turner, who was limping on scene, initially did not think he was injured in the fire. He told firefighters he’d hurt his leg in an accident sometime before the fire, but later that night, he realized he had also been burned on his feet, as he escaped from the structure.
The Turner home was still standing, although it will likely be declared a complete loss. The scene was cleared at 9:15 a.m., seven hours and 20 minutes after the fire call first came in.
Dora VFD Chief Monte Shipley was one of many firefighters who responded in mutual aid to the Bakersfield fire.
As that blaze began to die down, Watts released some of the other departments while the Bakersfield firefighters continued to battle the fire. Shipley and the other Dora firefighters made their way home around 4 a.m.
Shipley was nearing Dora on H Highway after the nearly 30-mile trek back home when he did a double-take and wiped his sleepy eyes. An orange glow burned from Wayne Osborn’s farm on County Road 355, about a half mile from Shipley’s own home.
Osborn was awakened by a loud noise in the attic-area of the 100-year-old, all-wood farmhouse.
Tecumseh VFD arrived on scene a short time later, followed by Caney Mountain, Caulfield and Bakersfield VFDs responding in mutual aid.
The home burned to the ground, but several close outbuildings and barns on the property were undamaged. Osborn was uninjured.
Shipley says the cause of the fire is unknown.
The Dora scene was cleared at 9:55 a.m., five hours and 38 minutes after the first call came in.
A GoFundMe.com account has been set up by Osborn’s family. To donate, search for “Wayne Osborn house fire.”
Watts left the Dora fire and was traveling toward Gainesville, where he and Bakersfield assistant fire chief Punk Stone planned to fill the department’s oxygen bottles and air packs in the Gainesville VFD firehouse.
But then his emergency radio sounded again. The 9:24 a.m. call dispatched firefighters to yet another structure fire, this time at Betty Jackson’s home on High School Drive in Gainesville.
Gainesville VFD Assistant Fire Chief John Russo says his department immediately responded and found no one was home.
Mutual aid was requested from Caney Mountain, Tecumseh, Lick Creek, Pontiac / Price Place and Bakersfield VFDs.
Russo says the fire is still under investigation, but it appears to have begun in the home’s kitchen between the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. The home is still standing but badly damaged. However, Russo says a lot of personal possessions were saved.
The Gainesville fire scene was cleared at 12:08 p.m., two hours and 44 minutes after the call first came in.
Homeowner Betty Jackson says she had decided to spend the night at her son’s home in West Plains on Christmas Eve so she could spend Christmas Day there with her family.
Watts, who began his day with the first emergency tone-out at 1:47 a.m., finally made it home around 4 p.m. on Christmas day, after 14 hours of fighting Ozark County fires.
While away from home helping his fellow Ozark countians in their time of need, Watts missed spending Christmas morning with his own three children. However, his wife, Zaylor, sent a cellphone video of the girls opening their gifts that morning.
Watts says he got the video while at the Dora fire scene and says he was so glad his wife captured the moment so he could see the excitement in the eyes of his three girls when they opened their presents.
The three girls, who range in age from 2 to 11, weren’t upset their dad wasn’t home Christmas day. Instead, they chose to follow in his community-minded footsteps.
Watts says they got a little bit of money as a Christmas gift from an uncle. When they heard about the fire, the first thing they said was they wanted to take their money and buy those kids some Christmas gifts.
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