A 73-year-old Festus man lost virtually all his possessions in a house fire this morning (Feb. 5).
“I’m wiped out,” said Charles A. Dodson, who lived alone in the home at 111 N. Sixth St. “All I’ve got left are my car, my dog and my friends.”
Dodson rented the home, which was destroyed.
“It’s a total loss,” said Festus Fire Chief Chuck Boyer.
Several hours after the fire, Dodson sat in his car behind the house talking to neighbors and his niece while his dog, Baby Girl, hopped back and forth between the front and back seats.
“I’m just glad we all got out safe,” said Dodson, who has lived in the house for seven years.
When the fire started, Dodson was at the home, along with four guests. They all got OK and called to report the fire.
“We were sitting up all night playing cards,” Dodson said. “Someone got up and smelled smoke. It was boiling out of the bedroom, destroyed everything.”
At 6 a.m., the Festus Fire Department got a call about the fire, and when firefighters arrived, they found a blaze raging inside, Boyer said.
He said the cause of the fire has not been determined and is under investigation.
Dodson said he has renter’s insurance and intends to stay with his niece, Paula Presley, in Hillsboro for the immediate future.
“I’m more like a daughter,” she said.
Boyer said firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to nearby houses and remained on the scene for about two hours.
He said the early-morning temperatures were frigid, so water froze on Sixth Street, creating icy conditions on the busy connector road.
“We had an issue with the water from the tanks icing up on the street,” Boyer said. “When it turned to ice, the Street Department came out with salt. It didn’t affect the firefighters.”
Presley said the owner of the house lives in St. Louis County. She said she does not know yet what the owner will do with the property.
The Dunklin and Jefferson R-7 fire protections districts and the Herculaneum and Crystal City fire departments assisted with the call.
The American Red Cross helped the victim with food, clothing and shelter, the organization reported.