The High Ridge Fire Protection District, along with neighboring fire districts, responded to three calls for house fires in the House Springs and High Ridge area in a roughly 45-minute period on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
High Ridge Fire Chief John Barton said the first call, at 3 a.m., was to a two-story house fully engulfed in flames in the 2400 block of Oakmont Court in High Ridge.
He said the two adult residents and their pet dog made it out of the house safely.
“The homeowners were woken up by their smoke detectors going off,” Barton said. “When they got up, they could smell smoke, went downstairs and there was smoke coming from behind the television in the living room. When we arrived, we found the two-story residence with smoke coming out of the front door.”
The fire spread from the living room up into the attic and through the roof, Barton said. The house was considered a total loss.
The cause of the fire was deemed electrical and accidental in nature, he said.
“(The homeowners) opened the garage doors to get vehicles out, and then the fire just intensified rapidly,” Barton said. “Unfortunately, in some cases, when doors are opened to buildings, it can increase the amount of air that’s available as fuel for the fire.”
Fire crews cleared the scene at 6 a.m. Barton said Fenton, Cedar Hill and Saline Valley fire protection districts and North Jefferson County Ambulance District assisted.
Additional calls
Barton said the other two calls that morning did not lead to major damage to the homes.
High Ridge Fire received a call at 3:17 a.m. for a fire at the 5100 block of Bridlewood Court in the Sycamore Springs mobile home park in House Springs.
“The caller was driving home and passed by the house and noticed that the porch was on fire,” Barton said. “They made contact with the homeowners and the homeowners extinguished the fire prior to fire department arrival.”
Fire crews arrived on scene at 3:27 a.m. and had the fire under control at 3:33 a.m., he said. The Eureka, Antonia, Saline Valley, Goldman, Rock Community and Hillsboro fire protection and Big River Ambulance District assisted.
High Ridge Fire received a call of a third fire at 3:48 a.m., this time at the 5000 block of Oak Bluff Drive in High Ridge. The first truck, from the Valley Park Fire Protection District, arrived on scene at 4:02 a.m., Barton said.
“The homeowners reported smoke in the basement and a smell of smoke throughout the home,” he said. “(Valley Park Fire) discovered that it was a faulty water heater. They disregarded all the other equipment coming in and they remained on scene for a brief period to ventilate the smoke out, and then everybody cleared the scene at about 4:20 a.m.”
The Kirkwood and Crestwood fire departments, Saline Valley, Fenton, Valley Park, West County, and Antonia fire protection districts and North Jefferson County Ambulance District assisted.
Barton said High Ridge must rely on neighboring fire districts for support, especially in a situation like this.
“(A structure fire) utilizes all of our resources,” he said. “Having three reported structure fires in a 45-minute time frame is obviously extremely rare. It was ‘all hands on deck’ for all our neighboring agencies.
“It was definitely a chaotic, early morning in High Ridge.”