A Thursday night (Dec. 11) fire severely damaged the kitchen of a house south of Festus, but a second fire reported early today (Dec. 12) at the same residence destroyed the house, Festus Fire Chief Chuck Boyer reports.
The second fire at the home in the 12200 block of Hwy. CC was “suspicious and under investigation,” Boyer said.
He said the Festus Fire Department received a call about the first fire around 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
“The owners had a grease fire on the stove in the kitchen,” Boyer said. “After they tried to extinguish it themselves, the fire got bigger. We sent a crew and they knocked it down quickly, but the kitchen was a total loss and there was smoke and heat damage in the rest of the house. With the extent of the damage to the kitchen, we had to shut down the power to the house. The occupants had to go stay with other family.”
Two adults and two children were at the home when the kitchen fire started and got out safely, he said.
He said firefighters remained at the scene until 10 p.m.
“We called a board-up company, and around 11 p.m. they called to report something smoldering in the ceiling of the kitchen,” Boyer said. “When our crew returned, they checked for 30 to 40 minutes and did not find hot spots or anything smoldering. They left.”
At 1:30 a.m. today, the department got another call about a fire at the house.
“When we arrived, the house was fully involved, with flames through the roof,” Boyer said. “We were on scene until about 5:30 a.m. The house is now a total loss.”
He said today the second fire may be related to the first one, but the second fire remains under investigation.
The Hematite, Jefferson R-7, Crystal City, Mapaville, De Soto Rural and Herculaneum fire districts and departments assisted with the calls for both fires, Boyer said.