Hillsboro Fire responded Nov. 8 to an early morning house fire in the 100 block of North Lake Drive in the Lake Wauwanoka subdivision that spread to a nearby house on the same block.
While fighting the blazes, two firefighters sustained injuries, Hillsboro Chief Brian Gaudet said in a written statement.
The fire district responded to a call at 12:48 a.m. at the 6,000-square-foot house. When firefighters arrived, heavy fire showed from the lower level and first floor. The homeowners, two adult occupants, evacuated the house safely before firefighters arrived, Gaudet said.
“We cannot rule out it started with a fire pit on the lower deck,” he said.
The house was a total loss, he added.
Due to narrow subdivision roads and a high volume of water demand to fight the fire, five additional tankers were called to assist, he said. The house presented significant challenges due to “multiple additions, varied rooflines and numerous concealed void spaces,” he said in the statement.
It took nearly four hours for firefighters to bring the blaze under control.
A Hillsboro firefighter’s hands received second-degree burns, and the other firefighter from an unidentified assisting fire district dislocated a shoulder. Gaudet said both received treatment at the scene by Valle Ambulance personnel and did not require transport to a hospital.
“The injured Hillsboro firefighter who suffered burns will not need to miss work,” he said. “The other injured firefighter was from a neighboring fire district, and the status is unknown at this time.”
The second house caught fire while firefighters attacked the original fire, Gaudet said. A summer home, it was unoccupied, and firefighters quickly contained its fire, he said.
“It did receive fire, smoke and water damage, so repairs will need to be made inside,” Gaudet said.
Assisting Hillsboro in the fires were the Herculaneum, Festus and De Soto fire departments and the Eureka, Antonia, De Soto Rural, Dunklin, Hematite, Mapaville, Goldman, Jefferson R-7, St. Clair, Saline Valley, Cedar Hill, High Ridge and Potosi fire districts, as well as Valle Ambulance and Jefferson County 911 Dispatch.