Couple escapes early morning house fire
COLUMBIA — A couple and their pet escaped a house fire early Tuesday morning in southwest Columbia.
Jennifer Lowes was sleeping at the house and woke up and smelled smoke, firefighters said. She opened the door to the master bathroom and saw smoke coming through the vents. She woke her husband, Daniel, and they escaped the house unharmed along with their dog, said Gale Blomenkamp, division chief of the Boone County Fire Protection District.
Firefighters arrived at about 2:20 a.m. to the house at 2105 Tadley St. The crew could see the flames from about a mile away when they were on their way to the scene.
The fire caused an estimated $170,000 in damage, and the roof was almost completely destroyed. Firefighters salvaged many of the couple’s personal belongings.
Investigators believe the fire began in the attic, but an exact cause was not known Tuesday.