For one family from the St Louis area, Friday the 13th didnt bode well for their lake house south of Bourbon at Anthonies Mill Lake. Sullivan FPD received a call to assist Bourbon Fire District with  house fire there, and at the time of the call, it was raining cats and dogs. I loaded Missy up into my truck and drove out to the lake location, having been there several times before for photo shoots and to photograph the area for the owner. We were a few minutes behind the pumper and ahead of the tanker, but drove cautiously due to the torrential downpour. I remember hoping that the hard rain would soak into the ground rather than run off as a hard rainfall such as this would normally create. We desperately needed the moisture and I so hoped it would be a beneficial rainfall. I drove to Bourbon and turned south on N Hwy and the rain tapered off to a drizzle as I caught up to some slowpokes on the highway, who eventually turned off after a few excruciatingly slow traveled miles. I dont mind people driving slow, but 25 mph in a 55 mph zone is a little too slow in my book.

We eventually arrived at the lake subdivision and after talking to the gate guard, drove on around the lake to the turnoff to the residence on fire. I parked in a nearby driveway suggested by the guy directing traffic, as I didn`t want to be in anyone`s way, knowing tankers would be coming and going for water. I left the truck running with the ac on full blast for Missy, grabbed my camera and hoofed it down to the fire, and shot this one while walking up on it…

...arriving moments after the Sullivan pumper crew arrived, who told me a few minutes later, that the roof was fully involved and falling in as they pulled up to the scene behind Bourbon and Potosi Fire District pumpers and tankers. Sullivan`s junior firefighters and one of the deputy chiefs were setting up two drop tanks for a water shuttle operation as I walked up….

..and Potosi`s pumper was pumping from the red drop tank, which was being fed by the yellow drop tank, which the tankers were dumping their water loads into and then departing for another load of water. There was a dry hydrant down by the boat launch near the dam, where the tankers were filling their tanks and then driving back to dump their loads into the drop tanks.

I walked on down to the house after saying hi to Sean Johnson, with Bourbon Fire District, who was in charge of the fire. I saw Jimmy Smythe, Gary Midgyett, and junior Louis Trombley, walking around the front corner of the residence, taking a look at the heavy fire still inside the ground floor of the house and checking out the fire enveloping the wood encased chimney on the west side of the house…

Louie was waiting out in front as Gary and Jimmy decided on the best course of action in attacking the flames still inside the house…

…eventually deciding to try and cool the flames down and hopefully enter the house once that occurred….

..I walked around the back of the house and found firefighters back there from Potosi and Bourbon, looking at the partial collapse from the upper story and the glow of fire still inside the basement….

…funny how the flash shows one thing and the next photo, without flash, shows a bit more fire and glow involved…

and then the use of flash again to light up the firefighters….

…eventually firefighters picked up the hoseline and moved up closer to hit the hotspots….

..then walked back up front to see that Sullivan had the front of the house cooled down quite a bit now…

…but one could still see some fire inside the home about the middle of the structure….

…however, they eventually decided to enter the house through a bedroom window on the east side via a ladder……at this point, I observed what appeared to be another storm approaching from the northwest, with lightning popping off every few seconds…I decided to take off….shot this last one as I was walking back to the truck….