Dozens Of Homes & Buildings Burned In Friday's Fires At Lake Of The Ozarks

Homes were damaged — with some completely destroyed — by fires that ripped through Camden County and the Lake area on Friday, March 14.

In Southwest Camden County Fire Protection District, firefighters battled four major fires and were dispatched to 10 others that were offshoots of those. The district reported over 500 acres burned along with between 15 and 25 buildings or other structures.

Firefighters throughout the region deployed blowers and drip torches to create fire breaks and utilize back-burning to contain the fires, which were fed by dry, powerful winds that had been forecast to gust upwards of 50 mph.

Fire threatened the Camdenton Memorial Lake-Regional Airport. Airport manager Corey Leuwerke praised firefighters who protected the airport's tarmac and hangars, noting only some reflectors had been damaged by the flames.

"The fire was up against several buildings in the industrial park by the airport and was up against two hangars at the airport but fortunately we were able to keep the fire out of the buildings," Mid-County FPD Chief Scott Frandsen confirmed.

Ballparks National, in Macks Creek, just barely escaped being destroyed by fire. Staff were evacuated and rain helped keep the flames from destroying the ballfields.

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Kayla Barb's home on Tunnel Dam Road, in Camdenton, burned to the ground due to Friday's fires.

Barb shared photos and videos on Facebook, writing,

My family could use all the prayers yall have, our house burned down with everything in it, our dog is safe a neighbors bursted down our door and burnt himself to save him. We are heartbroken right now all we have is the clothes that we have on and our pup

I also started a gofundme if anybody is able we need to start from scratch part of this will also go to the man who saved our dogs life

https://gofund.me/abb72b39

My venmo is @kaylabarb98

And my husband's cashapp is $bthibs93

I appreciate all the community outreach and help you guys are great people and I love the amazing people in our humble town

Districts Reporting as of Saturday evening:

Mid-County Fire Protection District

We had three residences destroyed, one on Tunnel Dam Road and 2 on Spencer Creek Road as well as numerous outbuildings. There may be more. We are working on damage assessments and getting into the areas where the fires occurred. I have not been made aware of any deaths or significant injuries. The fire was up against several building in the industrial park by the airport and was up against two hangars at the airport but fortunately we were able to keep the fire out of the buildings. The majority of the structures that burned were in the Southwest Fire District.

-Chief Scott Frandsen

Northwest Fire Protection District

850 acres burned

162 structures threatened

5 structures damaged

0 structures destroyed

7 boat trailers, 2 atvs, 2 tractors destroyed

1 boat damaged

Southwest Camden County Fire Protection District

First, we would like to thank the many departments and services that aided in our multi-fire event yesterday.

Fire Districts/Depts: Prairie Grove, Dunnegan, Humansville, Northwest, Gravois, Pleasant Hope, Bolivar, Central Polk, Preston, Hickory County, Mid-County, Missouri Dept. of Conservation

Services: Camden County, MO Emergency Management Agency, Camden County MO Sheriff's Office, Camden County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Southwest Electric, Macks Creek R-V School District, Macks Creek First Baptist Church, Wal-Mart.

On 3/14/25 Southwest Fire was dispatched to a natural cover fire on State Highway U. While responding to that call we were dispatched to 2 more natural cover fires on Doc Ridgeway Dr and Stanton Chapel Rd. Along with our neighbors to the north of us in Dallas County who were fighting a natural cover fire on purgatory that ultimately ended on East Branch Road.

State Rd U Fire: Started on River Ridge and jumped the highway into the woods and along side the State Road on the north side. It jumped again to the west side of State Hwy U where it continued to travel along both sides and into the woods.

Doc Ridgeway Fire: Started in the area of State Hwy U and continued where it jumped to the north side of US Hwy 54. It travelled onto Rhino Ln and Tangled Trail. It continued through the woods and onto Ballparks National property and onto Camping Paradise.

Stanton Chapel Fire: Started on the east side of Stanton Chapel Dr. The fire travelled jumping Stanton Chapel to the west and north. The fire spread in the woods to the east and in a field to the west. It then jumped Boolin Dr and continued into the woods. The fire on the east side spread into the cemetery and in to the field behind. The fire jumped US Hwy 54 and travelled into the woods and fields between Geronimo Springs and Twin Hollow Rd.

Jack Burch Dr: While fighting these fires we were dispatched to Jack Burch Dr. where a fire had started and continued into the woods.

The rain helped to stop some of the fires and slow them down enough for us to get ahead of them.

While out with these major fires we were dispatched to approximately 10 other natural cover fires or smoke investigations all stemming from these fires.

The cause of these fires is still under investigation. A majority of them started from the winds knocking powerlines down.

Approximate numbers:

Acreage: Over 500 acres burned with approximately 15-25 buildings and structures. There were no injuries or fatalities in our district.

We are still doing a damage assessment and still working to maintain the areas affected.

LakeExpo will continue to update as fire officials share more information about total losses throughout the region.