Sharp Street Fire in Mountain View

Mountain View Fire Department responded to a fire engulfing a detached garage at a residence on Sharp St. in Mountain View on Tuesday afternoon, May 12. The homeowner’s son tried to build a fire in a wood stove using gasoline as an accelerant, said Mountain View Fire Chief, Stanley Murphy. 

Once the fire was started, it quickly began to burn out of control. 

“It was totally engulfed when we got there,” Chief Murphy said. 

The fire department in Mountain View has mutual aid agreements with Willow Springs Fire Department and Eleven Point Rural Fire Departments, but Chief Murphy cancelled the mutual aid call before the other departments arrived.

“We knew we could handle it,” he said. 

Murphy’s department was on scene for approximately an hour and a half, mostly cleaning up and putting out spot fires. The residents tried to put the fire out before calling for help. In the end, the garage was completely destroyed by the flames. It is damaged to the point it will have to be torn down entirely. Fortunately, no one was injured. 

Chief Murphy warns the public about the dangers of using an accelerant to start a fire in a stove, emphasizing, “You don’t use gas to start a fire on a stove.”