A house fire in the 4000 block of Upper Plattin Road in the De Soto area has forced a family of five from their home just before the Thanksgiving holiday.
At 11:03 a.m. Saturday (Nov. 19), De Soto Rural Fire Protection District received a call about the fire and arrived on the scene at 11:10 a.m., Fire Chief Paul Mayer said.
“They found visible fire out the front of the building,” he said.
Fortunately, no one was home at the time of the fire and firefighters made short work of putting out the blaze. The fire was under control by 11:24 p.m., Mayer said.
Firefighters, however, had Ameren disconnect utilities to the single-story residence in the after the fire caused “extensive” damage to the home, Mayer said.
“They had good windows that didn’t break out, so they had heat and smoke damage throughout the house,” Mayer said.
Fire officials believe that an electric space heater that was left too close to a piece of “overstuffed furniture” caused the blaze, he said.
The home belonged to a former De Soto Rural volunteer firefighter, Mayer said.
The only pet the family had was outside at the time of the fire and was found safe, he said.
Firefighters from the De Soto Fire Department, Hillsboro and Hematite fire protection districts assisted with the call, as did the Valle Ambulance District. The Cedar Hill and Jefferson R-7 fire protection districts moved up to cover the De Soto Rural District.
The American Red Cross was helping the family of two adults and three children with emergency assistance on Saturday.