Two firefighters were momentarily trapped but escaped a three-alarm fire without injury Feb. 1 at a home in the 400 block of Yorktown Drive in rural De Soto.
At 4:41 p.m., neighbors called to report the fire at the house in the Summer Set Subdivision, and firefighters from the De Soto Rural Fire Protection District arrived at 4:51 p.m.
“They found heavy fire in the back of the building, Fire Chief Paul Mayer said.
The fire started on the back deck, crawled up the vinyl siding and entered the attic, he said.
Two firefighters were inside the house – in the kitchen and dining room area – when the ceiling collapsed, sending fiery debris raining down on them. They were trapped momentarily and called “mayday” before working their way out of the building.
The two firefighters were checked out at the scene and were not injured, so they were not transported to a hospital, Mayer said.
“Their protective clothing did its job,” he said.
The family of four – a couple and two children, a 5-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy – who lived at the house were not home at the time of the fire. They are now staying with family, Mayer said.
Two pets survived the blaze, mainly because the fire broke out above them, he said.
A dog in a crate in the basement was taken from the home and a cat was finally found “balled up” in the corner of a closet, Mayer said.
“It was lucky there wasn’t a ton of smoke,” he said.
Firefighters believe the fire was caused by hot embers in a shop vac that was used to clean out the home’s fireplace and then placed on the deck.
“They (homeowners) said they hadn’t had a fire in two days,” Mayer said.
As firefighters continued to fight the blaze, a third alarm was struck when firefighters began to overhaul the scene – pulling out debris and putting out hot spots, Mayer said.
“Manpower is always an issue for us,” he said. “When you have a fire like that with a partial collapse and a “mayday,” it’s letting us know this is serious.”
Mayer said firefighters had to draw water from the lake.
“That is always labor intensive,” he said.
The house sustained major damage in the fire, but Mayer said he was uncertain whether the home would have to be torn down and rebuilt or if it could be repaired.
He said the roof and walls in the kitchen and bedroom would need replaced. Mayer said lightweight construction holds up well for a building, but lightweight trusses burn quickly once “fire is put to them.”
Firefighters from the De Soto and Festus fire departments and the Hematite, Hillsboro, Jefferson R-7, Goldman, Cedar Hill, Big River, Bonne Terre (St. Francois County) and Potosi fire districts helped De Soto Rural with the call. The Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Jefferson County Fire Investigation team also responded to the scene.