Two firefighters were injured early Monday morning, Sept. 7, while fighting a fire in De Soto.
According to a news release from De Soto Rural Fire Protection, which also oversees the city’s fire department, firefighters were dispatched about 2 a.m. to a fire in the area of North Ninth Street near Stewart Street.
“Upon arrival, the crew encountered an advanced fire at the home and initiated an attack as other units responded and arrived,” the statement said. “Approximately 25 minutes after arrival, crews were (inside) the living room, working to open up the ceiling for fire attack when a large portion of the ceiling material comprised of drywall, secondary ceiling 2x4s, plaster and lath, chicken wire and a large number of bricks from a discontinued chimney came in on the crew, temporarily trapping them.
“Other crews immediately initiated rescue efforts. Three (De Soto Rural) firefighters in total were caught or struck by the collapse. Two were transported to local hospitals and the third was evaluated at the scene by Valle Ambulance.”
The district said one of the injured firefighters was released that day with a broken tailbone and strained neck muscles. The second firefighter was admitted for observation and testing for a back injury and was released that afternoon.
De Soto Rural Fire Chief Tom Fitzgerald said he expects the two firefighters will have a one- to two-week recovery.
“Crews performed flawlessly given the situation. Investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire,” the statement said. “Ultimately, the fire was upgraded to a second alarm with an additional ambulance due to the collapse. We want to thank the many mutual aid agencies that responded to help and also backfilled our stations to cover other calls.”
Fitzgerald said the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating to determine the cause of the fire. He said the house was under renovation at the time of the fire, and no one was living there.
“It had a lot of damage (from the fire),” he said. “It’s a very old house.”
Assisting on the call were Hillsboro, Hematite, Jefferson R-7, Mapaville, Dunklin, Saline Valley and Cedar Hill fire protection districts, Festus and Crystal City fire department, Valle and Joachim-Plattin ambulance districts and De Soto Police Department.