A family will be living elsewhere after their home south of Festus was damaged Jan. 5 by a fire that began as an effort to clean up the lawn.
At 1:30 p.m., the Hematite Fire Protection District got a call about a fire at a ranch home, 2905 Meyer Road, Hematite Fire Chief Robert Hipes said.
The fire started outside the home where residents were burning leaves, he said.
“They were burning leaves in the yard, and I guess they thought the fire was out and it rekindled and caught the house on fire,” Hipes said.
An alert neighbor saw the fire, called 911 and alerted two young adults who were inside the house. The young men escaped without injury, Hipes said.
They also were able to get the family’s dogs out of the house, he said.
When firefighters arrived, the house was in flames, Hipes said.
“We had fire on the outside of the building extending into the attic,” he said.
Firefighters extinguished the flames on the exterior and then moved inside to make sure the fire in the attic was out.
“We had to pull the ceiling in two rooms,” Hipes said.
Firefighters had the fire extinguished in about 20 to 30 minutes, he said.
Hipes said the home was moderately damaged, which means the damage was mostly cosmetic, but the family will not be able to return until some repairs are made, Hipes said.
The American Red Cross was contacted to help the family.
Hematite fire crews were back in service at 3 p.m.
The De Soto Rural, Mapaville and R-7 fire protection districts, as well as the Festus Fire Department, assisted Hematite with the call.