Friends and family are today mourning the loss of Frank Carousel, affectionately known locally as “Blaze”. Born in Kansas City on January 1, 1930, he kept to himself for pretty much 95 years.
Voluntarily joining the US Army, he spent several years fighting in the Vietnam conflict, which he would regularly remind anyone around him about. Returning to Kansas and living in a small, studio apartment, he joined the fire department. During his tenure, there was an unprecedented increase in fires in the Metropolitan area, with yearly records continually being broken until his retirement in the mid-1990s.
The passions of his senior citizen years included walks in the county’s nature preserves, even during this recent period of frequent wildfires. He was found yesterday in his car, parked at the gas station near Compton Hollow Conservation Area, Rogersville, MO. 
