A fire destroyed a house in the 100 block of Hammond Drive in Herculaneum on Wednesday, Nov. 12, according to Herculaneum Fire Chief Kevin Baker. He said his department received a call about the blaze at about 7 a.m.
Baker said the initial report was a garage fire, which was called in by the homeowner.
Shortly after being dispatched, the first unit arrived on scene to find the home fully engulfed in a very fast-moving fire that was spreading to a neighboring home, Baker said. He said the Herculaneum Police Department was already on the scene evacuating residents from the neighboring houses to the north and south of the home due to the extreme heat. He said the residents were all evacuated without incident.
Baker said Herculaneum receives mutual aid help from both the Festus Fire Department and the Dunklin Fire Protection District on their calls, but while those units were still enroute, Herculaneum upgraded the call to a second alarm for additional firefighters and equipment needs from additional first responders.
“Because the fire was spreading to the second house, we wanted to request that additional help,” Baker said.
Baker said the fire destroyed the single-story house and a slight wind from the north helped push the fire to the home to the south. He said the wind, along with the elevation grade, caused the fire to burn the siding off the house to south and enter the attic.
Baker said to fight the attic fire in the neighboring home, firefighters had to pull out the ceiling and spray the attic with water. He believes with the amount of water that had to be used to get the fire under control, it was likely that the second home would be a total loss as well.
Baker said the fires were under control within an hour of arrival.
He said heat from the fire melted some of the siding on the home to the north, but the home did not catch fire. No injuries were reported.
Baker said mutual aid units remained on the scene until around 12:30 p.m. to assist with overhaul and to make sure there were no hot spots smoldering. Herculaneum firefighters remained on scene until around 1:10 p.m., he said.
Baker said the cause of the fire had not been determined as of today, Nov. 13.
“It’s under investigation by the (Missouri) State Fire Marshal,” Baker said.
Baker said he is thankful for the assistance the department was able to receive.
“We appreciate all the help from our mutual aid assistance. Our police department did a great job and showed quick thinking on evaluating neighbors,” Baker said.
Dunklin, Antonia, Rock Community, Jefferson R-7 and Goldman fire protection districts and Festus, De Soto and Crystal City fire departments, as well as the Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District, assisted with the fire.