FERGUSON, Mo. — Curious neighbors woke up early Monday morning to find more than two dozen first responders battling a house fire on Hudson Road in Ferguson's Hudson Hills neighborhood.
The neighborhood is off of West Florissant Avenue and about 13 miles north of downtown St. Louis.
The fire started just after 3 a.m. and only took about 30 minutes to put out with many departments responding, including the Ferguson, Florissant Valley, Black Jack and Berkeley fire departments.
Assistant Ferguson Fire Chief Steve Lagermann said Ameren and Spire crews were on the scene, which is standard if there are power lines near fires.
"When crews arrived the fire was already through the second floor, we got it under control pretty quickly," Lagermann said. "There was no significant challenges. We did have multiple lines off, we can't put our aerial apparatus up. It was a pretty standard fire. This is a really quiet neighborhood, we don't have that much fire activity here."
Much of the home was destroyed by the fire.
Neighbor Jeff Love told 5 On Your Side he's noticed squatters in the area for nearly a week and took matters into his own hands by calling the police a few days ago. He said he even saw a man in his 40s who looked homeless in the area.
5 On Your Side has reached out to Ferguson police to see if squatters could be connected to this vacant house fire.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to the Ferguson Fire Department. Firefighters said they do not believe the fire is suspicious at this point.
Meanwhile, St. Louis County officials recommend reporting vacant or problem properties to their website. The St. Louis County partnership is between law enforcement and code enforcement. The teams consist of county police officers and public works code enforcement inspectors. They tackle and solve persistent problem properties that drive down property values and prompt neighbors to move out.
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