Sunrise Beach firefighters respond to structure fire, save house from complete damage

Sunrise Beach firefighters responded to a residential fire on Thursday in the 33000 block of Explorers Road.

Firefighters said the fire started in a pump house that spread to the house by the time emergency crews got to the scene.

Firefighters said they were able to stop the fire before it destroyed the house. “I have seen many of these fires burn houses to ground in my time here in the Lake Region,” said Chief Dennis Reilly. “Because we were able to get up the roof of the house and cut a ventilation the fire was channeled up out of the house instead of spreading throughout the house.”

Reilly said the second staffed unit was the first to respond to the scene. “Having the second unit staffed was very important to our efforts, Not only did they arrive before the engine from Gravois, we had enough personnel to actually go to the roof and cut the vent hole”.

The district is exploring options to provide the staffing to keep the second fire house open 24/7, but at this point the fire house does close often due to a lack of personnel.