Three people perished Saturday evening in a house fire in nearby Phelps County, authorities said.
The Phelps County Sheriff’s Department said someone called 911 at 10:46 p.m. to report a structure fire in the 10000 block of County Road 2120.
Dispatch called out the sheriff’s department, the Rolla Rural Fire Department, the Doolittle Fire Department, the St. James Fire Department, the Rolla City Fire Department, the Phelps Health Emergency Medical Service, the Missouri State Fire Marshal, Intercounty Electric Cooperative Association, Children’s Division, the Phelps County Coroner and Yoakum and Son Excavating.
A Phelps County deputy, who lives nearby, came to the scene.
He found a young boy outside of the home and helped him until the other emergency agencies arrived, authorities said.
Phelps County deputies said while they believed there were people trapped inside the burning home, they could not enter the home because of the heavy smoke and fire.
The Rolla Rural Fire Department also found it was not safe for firefighters to enter the burning building.
Firefighters were later able to extinguish the fire.
The Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, Rolla Rural Fire Department, and the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating.