After battling a blaze for about three hours in the wee hours of Sunday morning at a Lay Road home east of Houston, firefighters with the Houston Rural Fire Department came away believing they had saved most of the structure and its contents.
But fire crews returned to the scene again at about 1 p.m. after the fire rekindled. This time, the blaze was far more intense, and the split-level home owned by Bill and Tammy Ramsey ended up a complete loss.
Houston Rural Chief Don Gaston said four trucks and nine firefighters responded to the initial call, and that damage to the house appeared to have been limited to the basement and one corner of the house.
“We used our thermal cameras on it, and it was out as far as we were concerned,” Gaston said. “I was telling my wife how proud I was of the job done by the guys who went out there.”
When the second call came in, five trucks and 10 crew members responded.
“But by the time we got there, it was really rocking and rolling,” Gaston said. “We put seven or eight thousand gallons of water on it, but we finally had to just stand back and let it go.”
Gaston said he wasn’t sure exactly how the fire began, but that it appeared to be electrical in nature.
“It’s too bad when this kind of thing happens,” he said. “But nobody was hurt, and that’s the main thing.”
An account has been set up at Progressive Ozark Bank to benefit the Ramseys. For information, call Angie Long at 417-260-1669, or Kathy Bell at 417-350-5622.