Firefighters were called out to face exploding propane tanks and a fire that destroyed a camper in the Big Woods subdivision in rural De Soto early Sunday morning (March 27).
The De Soto Rural Fire Protection District received the call just before 2 a.m., Assistant Chief Tom Fitzgerald said.
“When we arrived on the scene, the camper was fully engulfed in fire along with several items that were stored close to the camper,” he said.
Some of the things near the camper were propane tanks, and as firefighters arrived at the property in the 400 block of Hillside Road, the tanks began to explode, Fitzgerald said.
“One exploded just as the duty officer arrived,” he said. “There were three sizeable explosions.”
The owners of the property were not there at the time of the fire, and no one was injured in the explosions, Fitzgerald said.
He described the location as a summer weekend site.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze and left the site at about 4 a.m., Fitzgerald said.
The camper was completely destroyed, and the cause of the fire is undetermined, he said.
“Everything was destroyed so much, we were not sure what caused the fire,” Fitzgerald said.
He said the insurance company will probably conduct its own investigation.
In addition to the camper, several appliances stored on the property were destroyed. A tractor at the site also was damaged, but several sheds on the property with their contents were saved, he said.
As of Monday (March 28), Fitzgerald did not know whether the property owners had been notified about the fire.
Neighbors said they were going to contact the owners, he said.
The De Soto Fire Department and the Big River and Potosi Fire Protection Districts assisted De Soto Rural with the fire.