Officials with the Ozarks Heritage Research Center (OHRC) at Missouri State University-West Plains will host a presentation, "Half the Town Burned: The Great Wooldridge Fire of 2022" at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The event will be held at the OHRC, inside the Garnett Library at 304 W. Trish Knight St. in West Plains.
Guest speaker Tim Scherrer will discuss the background and historic decline of Wooldridge, a village in northeastern Cooper County, and the 2022 fire that destroyed half of the town in 90 minutes. The presentation will feature audio recordings of participants, illustrative videos showing the fire's intensity, and stories from residents — some of whom escaped just minutes before the fire consumed their homes.
“This was the largest fire that some of the most seasoned first responders in the state ever saw,” Scherrer said. “They navigated these challenges of unprecedented situations never seen before in the Midwest.”
Scherrer’s presentation will also explore what happened to Wooldridge residents in the year following the blaze. While the village has rebuilt some structures, most residents continue to struggle after losing everything. Through these stories, Scherrer highlights the broader issue of micro-disasters in the state.
A native of Quincy, Ill., Scherrer is a retired lieutenant colonel who served 28 years in the U.S. Army Reserve as a military intelligence officer. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in history from Truman State University and was inducted into the university's Army ROTC Hall of Fame. He has worked in a variety of educational and leadership roles and currently serves as the dean of academics at Father Tolton Catholic High School in Columbia.
The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the OHRC and the West Plains Council on the Arts and is underwritten by Missouri Humanities. Refreshments will be provided.
