EUREKA, Mo. — A resident and the family dog are safe and sound Sunday after their house in Eureka caught fire earlier in the afternoon.
It was a very tough fire to fight for first responders due to the cold and terrain limitations of the area.
Just after 3 p.m. Sunday the Eureka Fire Department and several other departments responded to a large house fire off Tall Oaks Drive.
“Upon arrival, the first unit, they had reported fire through the roof. There's heavy damage to the house at this point,” Eureka Fire Assistant Chief Scott Barthelmass said.
It took 25 different trucks and other apparatus along with roughly 75 firefighters and EMTs to put this fire out over several hours.
Barthelmass said it was difficult for several reasons.
“First off, we had heavy fire load conditions there," he said. "The second reason is it's cold and it's very hard on our personnel as they operate. So we need additional personnel. Then the third thing is we're in a no-water area, so all the water we're using is having to be shuttled in."
Two firefighters were injured in the process but got checked out and are doing okay.
“There's a lot of slip hazards and stuff like that," Barthelmass said. "We've had several firefighters slip on the scene already. We do bring in the St. Louis Canteen, the first responder canteen that comes in and starts providing some nourishment. We use ambulances to put personnel in to warm them up."
They said only one person was home at the time with the family dog.
“Animal control is here to help the animal so that they can get them somewhere safe for the evening, so that the animal doesn't suffer. But the animal is okay. And the resident is okay,” Barthelmass said.
He said the house is heavily damaged and while they don’t know what started the fire they want people to be very careful when it’s this cold.
“Make sure that you're using safe heating means that, you know, if you're using a fireplace, it's been inspected. All those fire safety, things are key right now,” Barthelmass said.
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