Working smoke detectors helped alert a man in his 80s to a fire early Monday (Jan. 18) at his mobile home in the 200 block of High Street in Crystal City. The man got out of the home uninjured, Crystal City Fire Chief Tony Bova reported.
“Sid Brown (the homeowner) was sleeping, and the smoke detectors and the fire crackling woke him up,” Bova said. “He got out, no problem.”
At about 2:55 a.m., Crystal City Police contacted the Fire Department about the fire at the double-wide mobile home, Bova said.
“When firefighters arrived, it was fully involved,” he said.
Bova said the fire destroyed the home.
“It’s a total loss. He (Brown) went to stay with family,” Bova said.
He said a neighboring home may have sustained some heat damage, but the fire did not spread to other structures.
Bova said the mobile home fire started in the ceiling.
“The cause was electrical,” he said.
Bova said conditions for fighting the fire were not bad considering it is winter.
“It was cold, but it could have been worse,” he said.
Firefighters remained on the scene for about two and a half hours, Bova said.
He said the Festus and Herculaneum fire departments and the Hematite, Jefferson R-7, Dunklin, Mapaville, De Soto Rural and Antonia fire districts helped with the call. The Crystal Police and Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District also responded to the scene.
