Home heavily damaged in fire
A Knob Lick home received significant water, smoke, heat and fire damage from a blaze that took place Thursday morning.
Firefighters responded to an 8:47 a.m. call reporting smoke showing from the eaves of a one-story home at 978 Knob Lick Road.
According to Wolf Creek Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Steve Young, his department arrived on the scene, along with the Farmington Fire Department, 7-10 minutes later to find fire emitting from the east side of the structure.
“It was coming out of the garage door and it had extended up into the attic area,” he said. “We sent a crew into the basement and a crew into the first floor. We were able to make a pretty quick knock on it within about a half hour. The homeowners weren’t at home at the time of the fire.
“Due to the type of insulation and the fire getting up into the attic, there was extensive overhaul that we had to do. We had to pull most of the ceiling in the house because of the cellulose insulation. Once you get fire up in cellulose insulation, it will smolder and starts coddling. We didn’t want a rekindle, so we had to remove most all of the ceiling.”
He said they ended up upgrading to a second alarm for additional manpower.
“Once all of our second alarm assignment was in, we were able to get all of the overhaul completed and get the fire out,” he said. “Direct fire damage was contained to the basement, the master bedroom where it burnt through the floor and portions of the family room. The rest of it was all heat, smoke and water damage.”
While the firefighters didn’t receive any injuries, Young described them as “just a bunch of tired firefighters,” adding, “At that time of the day our manpower is limited. Each apparatus is coming in short-staffed. We were splitting crews from trucks and combining them into crews to send in from different departments.”
Young said the cause of the fire had not yet been determined and that the state fire marshal has been contacted to perform an investigation.
In addition to Wolf Creek and Farmington, other fire departments who responded to the call were Doe Run, Park Hills, Desloge and Big River. Goose Creek Lake moved up to Wolf Creek’s station.
“Due to the type of insulation and the fire getting up into the attic, there was extensive overhaul that we had to do.” — Steve Young, Wolf Creek assistant fire chief
A Knob Lick residence receives substantial smoke, heat, water and fire damage in a Thursday morning blaze at 978 Knob Lick Road that was called in at 8:47 a.m. The fire was brought under control about 30 minutes after firefighters arrived.
Kevin R. Jenkins is the managing editor of the Farmington Press and can be reached at 573-756-8927 or kjenkins@farmingtonpressonline.com
