An early-morning fire on Sunday (April 19) that destroyed a vacant mobile home just outside De Soto was deliberately set by the owner, De Soto Rural Fire Chief Tom Fitzgerald said.
“I talked with the owner,” Fitzgerald said. “I believe they burned it to get rid of it.
“They were doing a controlled burn. In their minds that’s what they were doing.”
De Soto Rural Fire got a call at 2:10 a.m. about the blaze at the home in the 13000 block of Hwy. E, Fitzgerald said.
“We extinguished it because there are neighbors,” he said. “We extinguished it so it would not spread.”
Fitzgerald said setting the mobile home on fire is not considered arson because the owner did not financially benefit from it, so local officials would not cite the mobile home owner.
However, Fitzgerald said it’s possible the owner could face sanctions from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
“The problem is it doesn’t comply with DNR open-burning materials,” Fitzgerald said. “I suppose the DNR could try to make a case.”
He said the fire left little of the mobile home behind.
“Some of the tin and some of the rails and some debris are left,” Fitzgerald said.
He said firefighters were on the scene for about two hours.
The De Soto Fire Department and the Hillsboro Fire Protection District helped with the call, Fitzgerald said.