7/26/93
By: Brien Murphy
Courier-Post Staff Writer

WEST QUINCY - The Fabius River levee at West Quincy broke about 8:20 p.m. Friday, just before a fire ignited at the nearby Ayerco Oil Co. convenience store. The levee break meant the closing of the Bayview Bridge, the only highway link between Missouri and Illinois for almost 200 miles.

The fire traveled south and west with the water rushing into northeast Marion County, according to witnesses near the scene.

The Bayview Bridge was the last bridge open between Burlington, Iowa, about 95 miles north of Hannibal, and St. Louis, about 100 miles south. The Missouri Highway and Transporation Department reported the Burlington bridge is restricted, with an eight-ton weight limit and a speed limit of 5 miles per hour.

The Quincy Memorial Bridge, the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge in Hannibal, the Champ Clark Bridge in Louisiana, and the bridge between Keokuk, Iowa, and Hamilton, Ill., have been closed for several weeks.

The levee burst about a half mile north of the Bayview Bridge not only closed the last bridge open between Burlington, Iowa, and St. Louis, but at least indirectly caused a fire that burned out of control.

The fire was reported at 8:38 p.m. Friday, according to the Marion County Sheriff's office in Palmyra. Marion County and Palmyra fire crews responded to the scene.

No injuries were reported immediately after the levee break, according to the sheriff's office.

Smoke was seen traveling north from the fire. The fire itself traveled with the water that rushed in from the levee break.

The fire's cause was not determined by presstime, but there were unconfirmed reports gasoline at Ayerco ignited.

Eyewitnesses near West Quincy after the levee broke reported seeing glowing lights, possibly the fire, moving south.

The river stage at the Quincy (Ill.) Filter Plant was at 31.12 feet when the levee broke, more than 17 feet above technical flood stage.

The levee burst closed the Bayview Bridge after a two-week battle to keep it open.

Traffic was immediately detoured away from the bridge, according to the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, at the U.S. 24/U.S. 61 junction near Taylor because of water rushing onto U.S. 24.

The National Guard, Missouri State Highway Patrol and highway crews were on the scene Friday night to help people evacuate and send traffic away from the bridge.

Dick Jones, area engineer for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, said flagmen were located at the U.S. 61/U.S. 24 interchange, directing motorists away from West Quincy.

Jones said how long the Quincy and Hannibal bridges are closed depends on how long the water stays up, and on whether repairs are needed. He said both bridges at Quincy and the Hannibal bridge will be thoroughly inspected before they are reopened.

"I think we're in for a long spell," he said. "My guess ‹ and it is just that, a guess ‹ is that the Hannibal bridge will be open before the Quincy bridge."

The Red Cross was sending vans to pick up survivors at the 18-Wheeler truck stop at Taylor, to bring them to the flood shelter at the old Hannibal Regional Hospital. They said the group included levee workers, West Quincy residents, and Taylor residents, said Mary Ann Graham, Red Cross executive director in Hannibal.

Graham said there were 83 people housed at the shelter as of Friday night, including at least two families displaced by the latest levee break. She said the shelter has room for up to 75 more people.

The battered levee was under siege for weeks from the all-time high Mississippi River.

Crews worked for several weeks to keep the levee from breaking, and it was one of the last levees to remain standing after numeous breaks in Clark, Lewis and Marion counties in Missouri, and Adams County in Illinois.

Thousands of sandbags filled by volunteers from Hannibal, Palmyra, and Quincy, Ill., were used to try to hold back the water.

Closure of the bridge will have severs economic impact on the entire region. Quincy Mayor Chuck Scholz has said in recent days that 40 percent of that city's economy comes from Missouri. Similarly, many Quincy residents work in Hannibal and in Missouri.

The only remaining levees standing in the area are in Hannibal, the South Quincy Drainage District in Quincy, and the Sny Island Drainage District in Pike County, Ill.

The West Quincy levee that had held back the Fabius River protected more than 14,000 acres in Marion and Lewis counties.

It is unknown how long the Bayview or other bridges will be closed. The Hannibal bridge was closed when the river reached 27.67 feet July 2, and the river was at 31.4 feet Friday afternoon.

No evacuation order was issued for Taylor immediately after the levee break and fire.

John Hark, Hannibal's emergency management director, said no trucks from Hannibal's sandbag convoy were in West Quincy when the levee burst and the fire ignited. "Anyone affiliated with our effort ceased operations (Friday) afternoon," he said.

Illinois residents stranded on the Missouri side were taken to the 18 Wheeler Resataurant at the U.S. 61/Route 6 junction. They were then taken to Palmyra and Hannibal.

Culver-Stockton College in Canton was established as a triage site for possible medical attention for injured flood workers or emergency crews.

The Salvation Army took a mobile food unit to Palmyra to help victims of the levee burst and was asked to stand by at C-SC.

The Salvation Army will take non-perishable food, clothing, furniture and cash donations at its warehouse at 2001 Orchard Ave. at Industrial Road.