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COLUMBIA — A house fire killed one man and seriously injured a woman Tuesday morning in northern Boone County.
Firefighters from the Boone County Fire Protection District and the Columbia Fire Department received a report of the fire at 6:34 a.m. from a relative of the homeowner at 6300 O’Rear Road and were dispatched a minute later, said Gale Blomenkamp, a division chief with the Fire District.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Department arrived at the scene first and reported that half of the structure was on fire. When firefighters arrived a short time later, 80 percent of the house was on fire.
Four adults and one 4-year-old were in the residence at the time of the fire, Blomenkamp said. Two of the adults and the child escaped the house. The five people are relatives of the owner.
“The house is a total loss,” Blomenkamp said.
After the fire was extinguished, firefighters found the body of a 68-year-old man in a bedroom in the back of the home, Blomenkamp said. The cause of death will not be available until an autopsy is performed, he said. A 48-year-old woman was sent to University Hospital in serious condition with burns. At least one dog was found dead in the home, Blomenkamp said, but he didn't know whether there were other pets in the residence.
Thirty-eight firefighters from the Fire District were dispatched to the fire, along with four firefighters and a division chief from the Fire Department, Blomenkamp said. The Fire District provided two fire engines, seven tankers and one heavy rescue squad. The Fire Department provided one fire engine. Boone Hospital Center dispatched two medic units.
Blomenkamp said the fire was extinguished within 30 minutes of the Fire Department’s arrival.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Fire District, Blomenkamp said. No smoke detectors were in the home.
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