Quick response saves historic house from ruin

This 2021 file photo shows the historic house located at 3520 Hamilton St., in Oakwood. A fire started on the front porch roof on Saturday, March 8, but quick action by firefighters limited the scope of the damage to a second story corner of the structure. The house, estimated to have been constructed in the early 1870s, is owned by Colin Welch, and occupied by his family. Photo, published in “Oakwood: West of Hannibal,” by Mary Lou Montgomery, was taken by Robert Spaun.

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

A fire of unknown origin on Saturday afternoon, March 8, 2025, could have easily claimed a century-and-a-half year old frame house located at 3520 Hamilton Street, in Oakwood.

But instead, an early fire report and a timely response by the Hannibal Fire Department allowed for the fire’s containment to a corner of the historic structure’s second floor.

Fire Chief Ryan Neisen said the call came into the department at 3:39 p.m. Saturday. “When the guys arrived at the scene, there was fire showing in the second story,” Neisen said. “They laddered the front porch, and pretty quickly extinguished the fire.

“They made a pretty good stop on it. There was some damage, but there wasn’t a significant impact on the structure.

“When we responded, there were eight people on duty, from stations one and three. Ladder 3, Engine 2 and Engine 3 responded.

“We removed some of the exterior components of the structure,” Neisen said, in order to fight the fire. This left a hole in the second story on the corner of the house.”

As far as fires go, “it was a pretty simple fire,” he said. “There was minimal damage to the second story interior and exterior.”

The department was at the scene until 5:45 p.m.

Chief Neisen estimates that the temperature outside at the time of the fire was 65 degrees, with sunny skies. That compares favorably to another fire in an historic house on Saturday, March 1, at 408 Rock Street, when high winds kept rekindling the fire, and cold temperatures left the ground underfoot slick and treacherous.

Station remains closed

In 2024, the city temporarily closed the Oakwood fire station, located in Huckleberry Park, due to a lack of manpower to fully staff it. Responders to the scene on Saturday came from the Fourth Street Station and the McMaster’s Avenue station.

Chief Neisen said that the department’s response to the fire would have been a little longer than if the Oakwood station had been in operation. “How much longer, I don’t know. Based on what traffic was (at the time), response time would have been slightly longer than normal.”

Home owner

The owner of the house on Hamilton Street is Colin R. Welch, who until recently served the Fifth Ward on the Hannibal City Council.

Welch told the Courier-Post in 2021 that he hoped this house, which he is systematically rehabbing, will be his “forever home.”

Welch told Chief Neisen that in rehabbing the old structure, he had taken everything on the interior down to the studs. “It is good to see somebody taking care of the old homes and restoring them,” Neisen said.

The house, with an interior staircase culled from native lumber, sits on a stone foundation and is surrounded by four historic oaks trees. There is a wrap-around porch, and the original - now refinished - front door.

Albert L. Link (1876-1962) and his wife, Albertina Victoria Rendlen Link, lived in this house as newlyweds, beginning in 1903, when they purchased the property from John J. Henderson, who relocated to Tulsa, Oklahoma.  (Source: “Oakwood: West of Hannibal,” by Mary Lou Montgomery.)

Response

On Tuesday morning, Colin Welch told the Courier-Post that he is waiting for the insurance adjustor to come by and give him a quote on repairs. In the meantime, the family is staying with Colin’s  parents, Larry and Detsyl Welch.

“I have no idea what happened,” he said. “The fire just started on the (front) porch, on the outside.”

No foul play is suspected, he said.

He has done a lot of work on the old house, including painting and interior work. “I was done (with the renovations) until this fire started,” he said.

“It will be back to its former glory real soon.”