Controlled burn meant to keep Cooper County wildfire from spreading

NEAR WOOLDRIDGE, Mo. (KMIZ)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hoping to keep the wildfire that devastated a Cooper County town over the weekend from spreading onto more public land.

Fish and Wildlife workers were conducting a controlled burn Monday in the Big Muddy National Wildlife Refuge in Cooper County. The refuge is near the spot of a more than 3,000-acre wildfire that burned about two dozen buildings. The fire also displaced families in Wooldridge, a village of about 60 people in northeast Cooper County.

Boone County dispatchers warned that smoke from the controlled fire could visibility problems in western Boone County.

A Cooper County fire official said authorities are investigating whether a combine in a field might have started the fire.

Dry and windy conditions helped fuel the fire's spread Saturday and it was finally contained Sunday.

The Moniteau County assessor was looking at properties near the Cooper County border to determine whether they had also been damaged.

Check back for updates to this developing story.