COOPER COUNTY – One year on, parts of Wooldridge still stand after a fire burned at least 3,000 acres and 23 buildings.
But some of the town’s residents have picked up their lives and moved on to other communities.
Most of the homeowners who lost their homes in the October 2022 fire are either displaced or still living in Wooldridge, but under difficult circumstances.
“We were scared, we were empty,” said Jessica McCombs, a former Wooldridge resident who lost her home in the fire. “We had all these emotions and we were physically exhausted.”
Officials activated Missouri’s statewide mutual aid system to fight the fire, which drew at least 50 fire departments.
A year later, Kathy Mapes is renovating the Wooldridge Community Club. She says the club was one of the few buildings unaffected by the fire, along with the town’s post office. But it still needs updating. During the fire, the club building was unable to house first responders or members of the public because it needed repairs.
“It was in terrible disrepair. It was just unusable,” said Mapes, the club’s treasurer. She will take over as president in January 2024.
State insurance department says most homes uninsured
Target 8 requested an incident report from Wooldridge Mayor Kelly Murphy detailing how many insured homes were damaged in the fire.
According to Mike O’Connell, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, 10 homes were damaged in the fire.
Only two of the damaged homes were insured, the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance confirmed.
There are 69 homeowners insurance companies that have more than 1% of the homeowners insurance market in Cooper County, according to the insurance department. The list doesn’t include farm, county and municipal mutual property insurance companies created under Chapter 380, RSMo.
Wooldridge Mayor Murphy did not respond to numerous requests for comment via email and mobile phone.
“It makes me sad that there were good people down here and they’re gone,” Mapes said. “It’s a flood plain. So for any of them to rebuild, it’s just not financially feasible.”
What is a floodplain?
A floodplain or floodway is an area of high and moderate to low flood risk. Due to Wooldridge’s and Cooper County’s proximity to the Missouri River, the area is in a flood plain.
Homeowners who have property in a flood zone are advised to purchase homeowners and flood insurance, said Carrie Couch, director of consumer affairs for the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance.
“Your home is your biggest investment,” Couch said. “So it’s important to have that protection.”
Why Wooldridge didn’t get financial help from the government
O’Connell said the fire didn’t cause enough damage to uninsured property to qualify for a federal emergency declaration.
“Missouri does not have a state law or budget appropriation to assist individuals in the absence of a federal disaster declaration,” O’Connell said. “There is no program to transfer state tax dollars to fire victims.”
Some families couldn’t afford any kind of insurance. And with no federal or state aid on the way, they were stuck living under difficult conditions.
Some who lost their homes are still living on the same property, but in trailers instead of houses.
A family member of a Wooldridge resident living in one of the trailers said they were devastated.
They didn’t want to be interviewed, but told Target 8 off-camera that their family member was on a fixed income and couldn’t afford to rebuild their home.
Starting over
When homeowners didn’t have anywhere to stay after the fire, some sought shelter at the Open Bible Praise Center in Boonville. McCombs and her family didn’t stay at the shelter the night of the fire, but they eventually moved to Boonville permanently.
“It’s family here, it always has been,” McCombs said.
She and her family lost their home, their dog and what she called a “beautiful” view of the Missouri River. They received $1,400 from a local fundraiser in Boonville in April 2023.
She said it’s impossible to prepare your mind for disaster, but she got through it by prioritising her mental health.
“We learned the tools that can’t fix the problem for you, they can’t magically make money appear, they can’t magically get you a house,” McCombs said. “But they can help you stabilise and give you tools to help you just gently be kind to yourself to get through it.”
The Boonslick Heartland YMCA helps McCombs focus on the future, as she called it her second home. She said the family has lived in central Missouri since 2008.
“When the fire happened, that was the first place we went,” McCombs said. “I had not even washed my hair because of the soot and the smoke. We just wanted something normal.
The insurance department said the state offers a programme called the Missouri Property Insurance Placement Facility, or the Missouri FAIR plan. It helps anyone in Missouri get insurance if they can’t get it through the normal insurance market.
“Anger is a part of life. But I’m not going to let us stay there because we have joy and happiness that’s also on the table. But give yourself enough time to grieve,” McCombs said.
