A home in the 500 block of Reservoir Street in Herculaneum was damaged in a fire on Jan. 14, Herculaneum Fire Department Chief Kevin Baker said.
One person who was inside the home when the fire started got out unharmed, Baker said.
“As I was pulling up, the person in the home was coming out the front door,” Baker said. “A neighbor was banging on the door trying to wake (the resident) up.”
Baker said Herculaneum Fire got a call at 8:49 p.m. about the fire, and Matthew Smith, one of the two full-time firefighters the department hired last month, responded to the call within five minutes, along with a volunteer firefighter, and the fire was extinguished within three minutes.
The home is located behind the Herculaneum High School auditorium, and no other buildings were damaged, Baker said.
Baker said he’s not sure if the fire started inside or outside the home, but it was limited to a rear laundry area and patio.
He said Thursday (Jan. 21) that the cause of the fire was under investigation.
The Dunklin Fire Protection District and the Festus Fire Department helped with the call, and the Crystal City Fire Department covered the Herculaneum fire house during the call. The Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District also responded to the scene.
Smith, 34, was on just his second shift when the call came in. He grew up in Herculaneum, served in the Navy and was a volunteer firefighter at Herculaneum before being hired on Jan. 8.
Scott Grupa, 51, was the other full-time firefighter hired last month. He was a volunteer with the department for six years.
“We're proud to train them and take them from volunteers, and they were ready to do the job Day 1,” Baker said.
Revenue from a 1-cent sales tax Herculaneum voters approved in June helps cover the cost of the new firefighters’ salaries.
The city’s fire department recently bought new thermal imaging cameras, using funds from a $10,000 grant the Jefferson Foundation awarded the department last November, and the day before the fire on Reservoir Street, firefighters received training on the new cameras, which were used on the call, Baker said.
He said he’s sure the home on Reservoir Street would have been more seriously damaged if the department’s new full-time firefighter had not been at the firehouse to answer the call.
“A year ago, I would have met other volunteers (at the firehouse) and drove to the scene,” Baker said. “Usually, we’re all at home when the calls come in. You drive to the station; it takes a couple of minutes to put on your gear and then drive to the fire. It’s amazing the difference you make with firefighters on staff. It’s a whole lot quicker response time.”