Firefighters from the City of Houston and Houston Rural fire departments responded to a vehicle fire at the intersection of West Highway 17 and U.S. 63 at about 5 p.m. Thursday.
Houston Rural Fire Chief Don Gaston said the Chevrolet pickup apparently pulled up at the intersection to turn north onto U.S. 63 and burst into flames.
“It got big quick,” Gaston said.
The truck was totaled, but several power tools and other items were saved out of its bed.
City of Houston Fire Chief Joey Moore said the truck belonged to Houston resident Harold Cornutt and was being driven by Charles Cornutt, and that the fire appeared to have started in the engine compartment.
Officers with the Houston Police Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol controlled traffic in the area while firefighters tended to the burning truck.
A Houston Rural Fire Department brush truck drives alongside a large field fire that burned Thursday afternoon off of Northview Lane north of Houston.
At about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, four Houston Rural trucks and eight firefighters responded to a large field fire off of Northview Lane north of Houston.
Gaston said cattle in the area were threatened but not harmed, and the blaze was controlled before it spread into the big sawdust pile at the property where Houston Wood Treating used to operate.
“We might never have gotten it out if it got to that pile,” Gaston said.
High winds made fighting the fast-moving blaze harder.
“Thank goodness it wasn’t blowing any harder,” Gaston said.
A charred Chevrolet pickup sits at the intersection of West Highway 17 and U.S. 63 after catching fire.