Resident woman dies in Alpine Village blaze

A Republic woman died when the mobile home she was living in at Republic’s Alpine Village was destroyed by fire Wednesday, Feb. 19. Her husband managed to escape the fire, and was reported as having been transported to a hospital with smoke inhalation and minor burns.
Dane Rush, who lives at Alpine Village, said he heard the explosion from his own trailer.
“It felt like a bomb went off,” he said. “Our trailer shook all over.” Rush also said he remembered the explosion as “a fireball and huge billow of smoke.”
It wasn’t immediately known how the fire started, but several news outlets reported there were oxygen tanks located inside the mobile home, which may have caused large explosions during the fire.
The fire was located in the district of the Brookline Fire Protection District, so they took command of fighting the fire, with the assistance from the city of Republic, West Republic Bois D’Arc and Willard.
The Bois D’Arc Fire Protection District said they provided mutual aide at the scene.
“We helped with fire suppression as well as water supply with our water tenders,” a source at the department stated. “We had eight personnel working on scene.”
Rush said several firefighters and other first responders were on the scene.
“This place was completely filled with fire trucks and police cars,” he said. “You couldn’t get in.”
It was reported that there are no fire hydrants at Alpine Village, which made it necessary for a number of fire departments to respond.
The Greene County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating the fire. A post on the Facebook page at the Sheriff’s office stated an autopsy had been performed on the woman, but both her name and the name of her husband were being withheld pending a positive identification of the woman’s identity.
Don Leech, who also lives at Alpine Village, described the husband and wife as an “elderly couple.” He said he knew very little about the woman, other than “she took care of all the animals around the park.”
The trailer which caught fire is a total loss. A trailer just west of it also suffered some fire damage, as well.