OAKVILLE, Mo. — A watchful neighbor and a postal worker helped a south St. Louis County man while part of his house was up in flames during the storms Monday evening.
Photos shared with 5 On Your Side showed flames shooting out of the attached garage of a house in Oakville.
A neighbor said her husband was driving by when he saw the elderly man who lives in the house sitting on the porch while the large fire burned in the garage. He said he couldn’t move.
The woman’s husband helped the man stand up and walked him away from the house. The neighborhood postal worker was driving by at the time, pulled over and also helped the man safely move away from his house.
The man wasn’t hurt, and firefighters were able to find and rescue his cat.
The fire destroyed the garage, but the house appeared to be intact.
Mehlville Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Daniel LaFata told 5 On Your Side the call for help came in at about 6:30 p.m. He said fire investigators haven't determined exactly what caused the fire but a lightning strike could be to blame. Heavy storms were in the area at the time.
A man and woman lived in the house and both of them made it out safely, LaFata confirmed. Firefighters also were able to find and rescue the homeowners' cat.
LaFata described the fire as "intense." He said the garage was destroyed, along with two cars that were inside. The rest of the house has smoke damage. The flames also caused some minor damage to the siding of a neighboring house.
Monday's fire was the second one in two days that the fire department believes was caused by lightning. The steeple of the South County Bible Church near Concord and South Lindbergh suffered damage in storms Sunday night.
The storms left tens of thousands of Ameren customers without power during the peak of the storm. Some areas saw a lot of lighting, heavy rain and strong gusty winds. There also were reports of pea-size hail. 5 On Your Side Meteorologist Jim Castillo said the storms moved through the St. Louis area at about 45 mph.
