A Crystal City family returned home the evening of Sunday, May 7, to discover a fire had damaged the inside of their house in the 700 block of VFW Drive, Crystal City Fire Chief Tony Bova said.
The Crystal City Fire Department got a call about the fire at approximately 8:30 p.m. that day, but by the time firefighters arrived, the blaze had burned out, Bova said.
“The family left the house at approximately 11:30 a.m. and returned about 8:30 p.m. to find the fire damage and smoke,” Bova said. “It’s a big brick house. The fire started in the can lighting in the living room. This was burning for hours and burned itself out.”
He said despite the fire and smoke damage to the inside of the home, he believes the family of four may continue to live there while repairs are being made.
“There was no structural damage,” Bova said.
He said firefighters remained on the scene for about an hour.
The Festus and Herculaneum fire departments and the Hematite and Jefferson R-7 fire districts helped with the call, and Joachim-Plattin Ambulance also responded to the scene..