Fire destroys house in Perry County

A home was destroyed in a fire on County Road 238 in Perry County Saturday night.

A call came in at 8:03 p.m., said Bill Jones, assistant chief of the Perryville Fire Department and Perry County Rural Fire Protection District. Members of the Perry County Rural Fire Protection District happened to be at a belated Christmas party with members of the Chester Fire Department in Illinois when the report came in.

Chester responded as mutual aid for Perry County, and the two met Ellis Grove Fire Department at the scene to battle an already developed fire.

The home was located close to the Chester Bridge, on the Missouri side, and Jones said that once responders arrived the home was already "pretty well fully involved" in flames.

No one was inside the house, the owners have been notified but were out of town at the time of the fire. There was no injuries reported and the family dog was able to safely exit the home.

Jones said witnesses told police on the scene that they had seen the fire before it had burned through the roof; they recalled seeing flames on the porch area. He said it is still unclear why the report came in later, after the flames were showing from the roof, when the call came from a local gas station.

The home was considered a complete loss.

"There was a total structural collapse, the structure fell into the basement, and then the roof fell on top of that," Jones said.

Firefighters were able to save a freestanding garage close to the home.

smaue@semissourian.com

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