Fire damages trailer in south Columbia

A fire at a mobile home park in Columbia damaged a trailer home, a pop-up camper and a vehicle Sunday afternoon.

It happened on Lenoir Street at Ed’s Trailer Court just after 4:30 p.m.

It took crews about 20 minutes to extinguish the fire.

Fire crews said no one was home at the time of the fire. But the owner of the trailer showed up shortly after the fire had been put out.

Because of the location of fire hydrants, two tankers from the Boone County Fire Protection District were called to the scene to assist with water supply.

According to the Columbia Fire Department, new developments and construction areas are required to have fire hydrants every 300 feet. But because the mobile home park was an existing property that has been part of the city for many years, there is no requirement for fire hydrants.

The man who lived in the home did not want to be identified but said he lost nearly everything.

“I was just in shock, you know. ‘Cause you have things that you can’t replace, and it’s just one of those things.”

Because Sunset and Ed’s Mobile Home Parks are closing in October, he was already planning to move.

“I was trying to find out exactly what my options were. I mean I don’t know if the new owner or the old owner was going to help us with moving expenses or what so I hadn’t made a decision on that.”

He said he does not have insurance and thought he lost about $10,000 worth of property.

The cause and origin of the fire was still under investigation as of Monday.

No damage estimates were available as of Monday.

Lee Britt, the Columbia Neighborhood Services manager, was at the mobile home park last week for inspection. She said there were several violations found on the property including unlicensed vehicles, nuisance trash, broken windows, unmaintained roads and more. “If it were to continue its current use as a mobile home park, it would be pretty expensive to fix all those issues,” Britt said.