A family of five and their neighbors escaped a fire in a three-unit townhouse on Northward Trails Drive in Imperial. The blaze destroyed the middle unit, and the neighboring units also were damaged, the Rock Community Fire Protection District reported.
Firefighters were called at 10:59 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, to the Westward Townhomes, which is just south of Arnold. The first firetruck arrived at 11:04 p.m., and the fire was under control at 11:26 p.m., Rock Fire spokeswoman Alyson Rotter said.
She said the scene was not cleared until 1:24 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25.
“They stuck around putting out hot spots and helping out where needed,” Rotter said.
Rock Fire was still investigating the cause of the fire today, Feb. 26. It was not known where the fire started, but it did appear accidental, Rotter said.
Two adults and three children, one of whom is a 2-month-old infant, escaped from the middle unit where the fire started, Rock Fire reported.
Kayla Westermeyer, 30, said she, her daughter and fiance lived in one of the neighboring units, and a man lived in the other unit.
No injuries were reported.
Rotter said the family of five’s dog appeared to get out of the home, but the dog ran off during the fire and had not been located as of today. She said the Red Cross was called to assist the family of five, whose home was destroyed by the fire.
The Antonia Fire Protection District assisted with the call. The Rock Township Ambulance District also responded to the fire.
Westermeyer said she, her 10-year-old daughter, Kaelynn Scheuermann, and her finance, Maxx Holtwick, were in one of the neighboring units when the fire started.
“Luckily, my bedroom window was open, so when (the family of five) ran out their back door screaming, ‘Everybody get out. There is a fire. Call 911.’ We were able to wake up and get out of the house,” Westermeyer said. “It went up in flames. It was so fast. It is like watching something in a movie.”
Westermeyer said the fire damaged her daughter’s bedroom, and the unit was damaged by water and smoke. She said as of today, her family was staying with her mother in the townhouse complex.
“Three of us in one bedroom doesn’t work forever,” Westermeyer said. “Everything is temporary right now. The Red Cross did reach out to us. I luckily had renters insurance, and I’m working with the insurance company.”
She also said she had been told it may take up to eight months before the damage is repaired, and she is not sure she and her daughter will be able to move back into the home.
“My daughter has asthma,” Westermeyer said. “With the smoke damage and everything, I don’t know if we can go back to living somewhere where we know all of that was there.”
Westermeyer said all of her daughter’s belongings were destroyed, and she is not sure of the extent of the damage in the rest of the home.
“The night that everything happened when we were cleared to walk through to grab what we could, there was 3 inches of water on my floor,” she said. “It looks like a flood happened on the bottom floor of my home, and everything was covered in soot. I don’t know the degree of what is salvageable.”
GoFundMe pages have been set up for the townhouse’s residents and for Westermeyer’s family. The page for all of the residents is called “Imperial Missouri Families in Need of Fire Recovery,” and the page Westermeyer is called “Fire Recovery: Family Needs Your Help.”
The GoFundMe page for all of the residents said the man who lived by himself wants his share of donated money to go to the family of five.
“We are a little community here,” Westermeyer said. “Everybody watches over everybody. I’ve told people as many times as I can that no one plans on this happening, and I am grateful for anything and everything (provided to assist my family). I know my neighbors are too.”