A Wednesday afternoon (May 2) blaze destroyed a house in the 2300 block of Haverstick School Road southwest of Festus, Hematite Fire Protection District Chief Robert Hipes Jr. reported.
A woman, two children and two dogs escaped the house unharmed, Hipes said today (May 3). He said a man also lived there but was not home at the time of the fire.
The blaze occurred after an explosion next to the house, but authorities do not know what exploded, Hipes said.
He said Hematite Fire got a call at 3:01 p.m. about the fire, and firefighters were on the scene until 6:37 p.m.
“She (the woman who escaped from the house) said she heard an explosion and went to the door leading to the carport. She opened the door and there were flames. She went after the kids who were in the bathtub,” Hipes said.
He said the cause of the fire remains under investigation, but the fire is not considered suspicious.
A neighbor, Clay Kappler, said he heard the explosion sometime before 3 p.m. He said he helped the woman get her kids safely away from the yard.
“She had two pit bulls – I was afraid the dogs would attack,” Kappler said. “I went over (to the fence). She got the kids out. She handed them to me over the fence. They’re little kids, one boy and one girl.”
Hipes said the victims “have family to stay with.”
The Crystal City, Festus and De Soto fire departments and the De Soto Rural, Dunklin, Hillsboro, Goldman and Antonia fire protection districts helped with the call, as did the Valle Ambulance District.