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2 firefighters injured putting out fire at vacant home in The Ville

Report of persons inside proves false, then a partial roof collapse traps two men temporarily. But chief says they'll be OK.

ST. LOUIS — St. Louis firefighters extinguished a fire early Sunday that gutted most of a two-story house on Kennerly Avenue in The Ville neighborhood.

Two firemen suffered injuries when part of a roof collapsed onto the porch, pinning them underneath for a few moments. Fellow crew members had to pull them out. 

One was treated for minor burns at the scene and the other had to be transported to an area hospital for treatment, according to St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson. He is in serious but stable condition. 

“Anytime you have that much weight from that height come down on you, you want to make sure your back, your neck, your head, everything’s OK,” Jenkerson said.

When crews arrived at 5 a.m. to the home near the intersection of Kennerly and Belle Glade Avenue, they saw a raging fire in a two-story brick building and heard initial reports that occupants were trapped. 

Two firefighters went to the porch and tried to kick in the door, when a partial parapet wall from the second floor came down and collapsed the porch roof on them. It turned out later that the house was vacant.

Once their comrades were hauled out from under the porch, the rest of the crew began knocking down the fire without further incident. 

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