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A fire in the 15000 block of Hardin Lane, formerly Gospel Ridge Road, claimed the life of a 55-year-old man Monday, according to Pulaski County Coroner Mikel Hartness.
As of press time, Hartness had not released the name of the victim, pending notification of family.
The fire was reported late Monday evening, according to Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District Chief Doug Yurecko. He said the call came in from a neighbor at 9:42 p.m.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by local agencies and the Missouri State Fire Marshal's office.
“It's under investigation.” Yurecko said. “We investigate all fires that don't have a very obvious cause. Anytime there's a fatality fire we call the fire marshals in.”
Sheriff J.B. King told the Daily Guide that Pulaski County forensics and Missouri State Highway Patrol were called in Monday night to investigate because there are some questions as to how the fire was started.
“The first people on the scene uncovered what we would probably refer to as red flags or suspicious circumstances," he said. “There was a fire, there is a fatality, and we're investigating some suspicious circumstances. Whether or not they will pan out to be something substantial or explanations will be found, I do not know."
First responders were on-scene within ten minutes of the call.
Yurecko said the quick response time is a major reason why firefighters were able to contain the fire. Firefighters were able to prevent the mobile home from being destroyed. Although there was smoke and heat damage throughout the home, the fire was contained to one room and a little bit of the hallway.
The fire chief said he did not see any evidence of smoke detectors in the mobile home.
“That's the big advantage of having fire fighters in the station 24 hours a day, both us and St. Robert, that really makes a huge difference on close-in responses,” Yurecko said.
Agencies called in to assist include the Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District, St. Robert Fire Department, Pulaski County Ambulance District, Pulaski County Sheriff's Dept., St. Robert Police Dept., the County Coroner, Laclede Electric, Missouri State Highway Patrol, and two investigators from the Missouri State Fire Marshal's office.
Yurecko praised the response of all the local agencies saying, “The cooperation that we've seen on-scene in the last few years is just overwhelming. The two local departments work together so well. You know we go to every fire together, basically. The cooperation from the local police departments and the ambulance service just... everything works likes it's supposed to. The outcome isn't what we had hoped to see, but everything went like it was supposed to.”
A fire in the 15000 block of Hardin Lane, formerly Gospel Ridge Road, claimed the life of a 55-year-old man Monday, according to Pulaski County Coroner Mikel Hartness.
As of press time, Hartness had not released the name of the victim, pending notification of family.
The fire was reported late Monday evening, according to Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District Chief Doug Yurecko. He said the call came in from a neighbor at 9:42 p.m.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by local agencies and the Missouri State Fire Marshal's office.
“It's under investigation.” Yurecko said. “We investigate all fires that don't have a very obvious cause. Anytime there's a fatality fire we call the fire marshals in.”
Sheriff J.B. King told the Daily Guide that Pulaski County forensics and Missouri State Highway Patrol were called in Monday night to investigate because there are some questions as to how the fire was started.
“The first people on the scene uncovered what we would probably refer to as red flags or suspicious circumstances," he said. “There was a fire, there is a fatality, and we're investigating some suspicious circumstances. Whether or not they will pan out to be something substantial or explanations will be found, I do not know."
First responders were on-scene within ten minutes of the call.
Yurecko said the quick response time is a major reason why firefighters were able to contain the fire. Firefighters were able to prevent the mobile home from being destroyed. Although there was smoke and heat damage throughout the home, the fire was contained to one room and a little bit of the hallway.
The fire chief said he did not see any evidence of smoke detectors in the mobile home.
“That's the big advantage of having fire fighters in the station 24 hours a day, both us and St. Robert, that really makes a huge difference on close-in responses,” Yurecko said.
Agencies called in to assist include the Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District, St. Robert Fire Department, Pulaski County Ambulance District, Pulaski County Sheriff's Dept., St. Robert Police Dept., the County Coroner, Laclede Electric, Missouri State Highway Patrol, and two investigators from the Missouri State Fire Marshal's office.
Yurecko praised the response of all the local agencies saying, “The cooperation that we've seen on-scene in the last few years is just overwhelming. The two local departments work together so well. You know we go to every fire together, basically. The cooperation from the local police departments and the ambulance service just... everything works likes it's supposed to. The outcome isn't what we had hoped to see, but everything went like it was supposed to.”
