Resident suffers burn injuries, smoke inhalation

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

A home near Wheaton was a total loss following a fire on Jan. 5, with one resident of the home suffering injuries.

Lindy Lombard, Wheaton fire chief, said the call came in at 7:51 p.m. for a fire at a home on Highway W, three miles east of Wheaton.

Crews arrived on scene at about 8:01 p.m. and began battling the fully engulfed one-story home. The resident of the home had escaped the structure before first responders arrived. She was later airlifted to a hospital in Springfield, suffering from burns and smoke inhalation.

Crews battled the fire until about 1:30 a.m., when the all-clear was given. Mutual aid came from Butterfield, Exeter and Purdy, with approximately 25 firefighters and 12 apparatus contributing to the effort.

“The mutual aid was tremendous,” Lombard said. “We had tankers shuttling back and forth from the home to the fire station in Wheaton refilling. If we didn’t have that help, we would have struggled to keep it knocked down.

“It was also windy that morning, and with the mutual aid, we were able to save a hay barn next to the home.”

The cause of the fire is undetermined.