The Monticello Fire Dept. responded to a house fire at 5 am, this morning, to a residence on East Trotter St., near Jordan Park.

The fire seems to have started in the back of the residence, where the most damage was located.

Sunday night, for the second straight evening in a row, a fire was reported at or near a local convienence store.

Around 7 pm, a caller reported seeing a large fire in the old Town & Country area, behind the Crackierbox store.

Monticello Fire Dept. trucks quickly arrived, and put out the fire, which was reported to be a brush fire.

Around 5 pm, the Monticello Fire Dept. responded to the report of a grease fire at Brook’s Get & Go, known to many as the “Old Big Jax”.

The fire was quickly extinguished, and no damage was done, according to the owners.

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The Monticello Fire Dept. was called to this mobile home fire, Sunday afternoon, around 2 pm.

The cause of the fire on Florence Road is undetermined. The residents were not home at the time of the fire.

MFD also responded to a home fire at Cottonwood Lane and HWY 35, near Lake Monticello, around 7 pm, Tuesday.

The rescue team also spent several hours on the scene of Monday’s fatal crash at Wilmar, along with their routine duties.

Kelly Reid received the Fireman of the Year Award from Lions Club President Don Hogue, along with a $100 check from Lions Club for the annual award.

Kelly is married to Melissa, a Kindergarten Teacher at Monticello Elementary School. They have two children, John Parker, age 5 years, and Jay Dylan, age 9 months.

Kelly trains fellow firemen and teaches at the Arkansas Fire Academy in Camden. He also volunteers as a referee at Jr High football games. In his “spare time” Kelly said he loves to hunt and fish.

Fire Chief Steve Faulkner selected Kelly for the award from 11 full time firemen and 14 volunteers on the City force. Chief Faulkner said the Fire Department has been successful in lowering the fire insurance rating down to four from five last year. This lower rating will significantly reduce fire insurance premiums in future years.

Two Wilmar residents (both Barkada volunteer firefighters) were passing by Wilmar Baptist Church, Saturday morning, noticed a small fire coming from under a car, just a few feet from a house.

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Around 10 pm, the Monticello Fire Dept. was called out to a mobile home fire on Young Drive, behind Commercial Bank’s East Branch.

The home was engulfed in flames when the firefighters arrived.

Around 2:30 am, firefighters were again paged out, this time to a mobile home located on South Maple Street, in the lot next to where a series of fires destroyed another home, a couple of years ago.

No cause has been released as to the cause of the fires.

The Young Drive residence was vacant.

The S. Maple home was occupied.

On a day when emergency personnel are recognized across the nation, our local fire dept, police officers, sheriff’s deputies, state troopers, and both ambulance services were busy proving how important they are to our community.

This link shows the dedicaiton that our local first resonders serve our community with, as they did on the 2010 anniversary of this life-changing day.

Around 10 pm, the Monticello Fire Dept. was called to a mobile home on Mill Street, near East Gaines, which was engulfed in flames, when they arrived.

The structure was located across next to an empty lot where another mobile home burned in July of 2011.

Around 5:30, this morning, MPD dispatch received a call reporting a house fire on East Oakland St., near it’s intersection with Rose St.

MFD firefighters quickly responded to battle the blaze, the the structure was fully engulfed when the fire was reported.

MPD blocked off Oakland St. for approximately an hour, due to the blaze.

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The Monticello Fire Dept. and Drew County Sheriff’s Dept. responded to the report of a house fire on Bowser Road.

No one was home a the time of the call.

The fire was believed to be contained to the kitchen, however smoke and water damage effected other areas of the residence.

Yesterday’s Lacey and Possum Valley area woods fire destroyed 1,422 acres, according to AFC.

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Firefighters have been battling a 100-200 acre wildfire south of Lacey for several hours, this afternoon.

It is believed to have stared around Ponderosa Trail, and has since reached  Wilmar Tram Road, and other nearby access roads.

The Forestry Commission has 5 plows and 2 planes, battling the fire, working to control it.

Photos courtesy of MLive readers

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Tuesday afternoon, around 1 pm, the Monticello Fire Dept. was called to the scene of a house fire in the 200 block of West College Street.

MPD & DCSO blocked traffic on the busy street, while firefighters limited the damage from the flames to a dining room / hutch area.  However, smoke caused damage throughout the residence.

No one was home when the fire began.

The Arkansas Forestry Commission battled a 179 acre woods fire, just south of Drew County, on Berea road in Ashley County.

AFC brought in 6 dozers and a spotter plane to battle the blaze, with the help of 3 local fire depts.

The dozer photo is courtesy of AshleyCountyLedger.com.

The smoke photo is from a MLive reader who saw several fire and emergency vehicles turning onto Goose Hollow Road, from HWY 425 South.

The fire at this mobile home, located on Vincent Lane, of off HWY 425 North, was reported to the Monticello Fire Dept. around 8:20, Saturday morning.

Firefighters and trucks responded, but the residence was a total loss.

The Arkansas Forestry Commissin has confirmed the total acrage destroyed by Monday’s 3 forest fires as….
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Around 1 am, the Monticello Fire Dept. responded to the report of a house fire in the 300 block of East Pope St, where smoke and flames had been reported in a residence.

It is believed that smoke woke someone in the house, who escaped safely.

From a distance, the home appears to be a total loss.