Firefighters had to retreat from a four-story condominium complex as high winds fanned flames through the Western Taney County building on Aug. 2. The winds spread embers which ignited several small fires nearby.
The fire at The Majestic at Table Rock was reported just after 3 p.m. The blaze reached three alarms before it was brought under control about seven hour later, Western Taney County Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Jim Single said.
The fire broke out on a patio on the second or third floor and spread to the attic. The exact cause of the fire has not been determined.
Firefighters were working on the third and fourth floors to contain the fire when a major storm swept through the area.
"Those first winds spread the fire through almost half the building," he said. "We called a Mayday to get the firefighters out right away."
Crews moved to a defensive attack and utilized three elevated master streams. Low water pressure forced crews to draft from nearby bodies of water.
A second storm pushed through the area and those winds fanned through the unburned section of the building.
Single said intense heat threatened several apparatus. They were repositioned away from the building.
Embers from the blaze ignited smaller fires in nearby natural cover areas. Single had to reassigned resources from from the structure fire to prevent those from spreading.
A dozen departments were called to the scene and worked well into the next day to mop up the remains of the building.
