An electrical fire burned through the roof of a house in the 6500 block of Dry Creek Road in Barnhart. The Antonia Fire Protection District got a call about the fire at 6:47 a.m. Nov. 15, Assistant Chief Glenn Nivens said.
When firefighters arrived at the scene at 6:55 a.m., they found “fire in the attic of the structure,” he said.
Two women who lived at the home had safely escaped, Nivens said.
Firefighters did “a quick knock down of the fire,” with the help of firefighters from the Rock Community Fire Protection District. Firefighters from the High Ridge Fire Protection District were staged in another area in case additional water was needed to fight the fire, Nivens said.
Crews at the scene, however, had enough water to extinguish the fire, he said.
Nivens said the two women who lived at the home “said they were having problems with their furnace.
“After the fire, when Ameren came out to pull the meter, they found the back part of the meter was melted.”
He said a line coming into the house was overloaded and probably caused a short at the electrical panel inside the house.
The home sustained significant damage, Nivens said.
“It is probably a total loss,” he said. “There was extensive fire to the attic area and it burned through the roof, although most of the rest of the house was intact.”
The home, a small, single-story, frame house, was likely built in the 1950s or 1960s, Nivens said.
The American Red Cross was called to help the two women who lived there, but representatives from the agency could not come out. So, fire officials worked with the Red Cross to arrange for a hotel room for the evening for the women, Nivens said.
The women rented the house, he said.
“I do not know what they had in regards to renters’ insurance,” Nivens said.
Firefighters left the scene at 9:14 a.m., he said.
In addition to the Rock Community and High Ridge fire protection districts, the Dunklin Fire Protection District helped with the call.