The Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District responded to a condominium fire at approximately 8:58 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 2 to the 11 West Condominiums, located at the end of Route TT in Sunrise Beach. The units that were on fire were on the lakeside, of the 11-mile marker, of the Lake of the Ozarks.
"This was one of the largest fires I have seen since I have been chief," SBFPD Fire Chief Dennis Reilly said.
“According to Reilly, SBFPD personnel arrived on the scene within seven minutes of the initial 911 call. “When we go there, one of the units was already well involved,” Chief Reilly said.
Electric arcs prevent entry
“The fire was in the attic. Firefighters attempted to get inside to push into the fire, but were stopped,” Chief Reilly said. “The main service panel for that segment of the building was arcing, so firefighters could not gain entry.”
Fire personnel put as much water as possible on the fire in the attic from outside. The fire spread quickly to the end of that building and was stopped from spreading to the other condominiums.
According to Chief Reilly, the area where the fire originated, on the right side, was a total loss. The left side of the building sustained fire, smoke and water damage, but that portion of the structure is still basically intact. Approximately 12 units were damaged, eight sustained significant fire damaged.
Multiple SBFPD partner fire departments responded to the call for mutual aid. The Missouri State Highway/Water Patrol assisted on the water and with traffic control on land. Water was pumped out of the Lake by fire rescue boats.
There were no reported injuries. The State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
Eyewitness Report
Rod Borman owns three units at the 11 West Condominiums. His daughter Mindi Sales was called by neighbors and told about the fire.
When Sales arrived on the scene at a little after 9 p.m., she learned an elderly man was said to be sleeping in a condo unit located directly above the fire. “When we got to him he was disoriented and a bit overwhelmed. He had his grandson with him,” Sales recounted. They assisted the man with packing up his oxygen and medications and then they helped him and his grandson to exit the unit and they transported them golf cart to the top of the hill where family members were anxiously waiting.
Sales stayed on the scene delivering water and transporting firefighters to and from the fire to trucks at the top of the hill, via golf cart. She also donated the use of one of her father’s condo units to a family that lost theirs in the fire. “They lost everything," Sales said. “They don’t even have a car, because their keys were in their condo that burned.”
Hero
Sales praised the heroic life-saving efforts Brad Gilchrist. Gilchrist lives in a second-tier unit, behind the condos that were on fire. He was asleep when the fire started. His wife woke him up and told him there was a fire, before the fire department had arrived. “Brad is the real hero. He jumped out of bed without a shirt on and ran around alerting his neighbors to the fire, urging them to leave their condos,” Sales said. “He literally had to drag one elderly man, who was confused, out of his condo. He also rescued multiple cats and dogs.”
“The firefighters were amazing too. I saw Sunrise, Mid County, Lake Ozark, Osage Beach, Gravois Mills and Northwest, there may have been more,” Sales said. “It was impressive the way they all worked together as a team. You forgot they were not from the same department. And they were very considerate of the victims.”
