Although they were home when the fire broke out Sunday afternoon, Earl and Maggie Smith escaped injury before their home on Lilly Road east of Houston burned to the ground.
Four trucks and 11 firefighters from the Houston Rural Fire Department responded to the blaze, but Chief Don Gaston said by the time they got there, the home was already fully engulfed.
“We had a 12-minute response time from the time we got the call to the time we were there,” Gaston said. “But it was an older house and it went fast. It was already going out through the roof in the main part of the house when we got there. It just had too much of a head start.”
Gaston said the cause of the fire wasn’t known for sure, but it may have involved a wood heat source near the back of the home.
“They smelled smoke, and when (Earl) went outside to have a look, the whole back of the house was already burning,” Gaston said. “We were out there in the freezing cold for two or three hours, and nothing seems to work right in that cold weather. We managed to save a few odds and ends and some paperwork, but all they really got out with was the clothes on their backs.”
“We were just about to sit down and watch a ball game when we smelled the smoke,” Maggie said. “But the Lord was good to us, and we got out OK.”
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Houston High School announced it is assisting the Smith family with clothing needs. To help out, contact Sandy Cremer at scremer@houston.k12.mo.us