Cooper County Fire Protection District looking at ways to improve after Wooldridge fire

COOPER COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Firefighters are looking for lessons they can take away from the large wildfire that swept through Wooldridge on Saturday.

One of the big takeaways is how to improve communication.

The wildfire scorched nearly 3,500 acres Saturday. The Cooper County Fire Protection District met Monday evening to discuss what could have been done better. They said they always review major incidents, as there is always things to improve.

"We identified several areas one of them communications," Cooper County Emergency Management Agency Director Larry Oerly said. "As far as what we could have done differently possibly getting a command post set up quicker."

Oerly said being located in a rural area like Wooldridge affects radio and cell phone communication.

"There was communication amongst units and units came in that didn't have the ability to talk on the frequencies that had repeaters on them," Oerly said.

However, the Cooper County Fire Protection District says they are in the middle of improving communications in Cooper County with a $2 million project.

Once Cooper County crews got on scene and saw the blaze, they knew immediately local resources wouldn't be enough. That's when crews called other counties to come in and help.

Oerly said people from around the area used bulldozers to put out the intense flames along with local farmers also stepping up by bringing in water resources.

"Brought their big water tankers down that they use to spray rigs, which was a big help because that stopped the fire from spreading in certain areas," Oerly said.

In an interview, Oerly said the response from the community and all the agencies was outstanding and without them it would have been more difficult and more damage would have been done.

Gov. Mike Parson plans to visit the area Wednesday afternoon.

If you would like to donate families impacted by the fire, you can visit redcross.org.