Large House Fire in Boone County
***UPDATED SATURDAY 1/26 5:33 P.M.***Firefighters were called back to the home today around 3:30 in the afternoon when a driver noticed smoke coming from the home. When fire crews arrived, they found a small fire had reignited on the interior of the home. The fire was caused by embers left burning from Wednesday’s fire.Firefighters say the initial fire on Wednesday damaged the structural integrity of the home to such an extent that firefighters were not able to go inside the home at the time and completely put out all of the embers.Firefighters were again unable to go into the home today, fighting the fire from the outside only.***UPDATE 2:00 P.M.***Firefighters say no one was home at the time of the fire, but crews had to be careful extinguishing the flames because live ammunition was going off inside the house.”Crews had to evacuate the area for a short time while that ammunition was going off and get that under control where we could get water in there and cool that off,” said Boone County Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Gale Blomenkamp.Upon arrival, crews say the fire had spread to about 50 percent of the home, including the basement and the attic. Firefighters battled the blaze from the outside due to the instability of the structure. Crews also had to deal with an inadequate water supply by hauling in water from a hydrant located a mile away.Boone County Fire Protection District crews from Harrisburg, Midway, Prathersville and Rocheport responded to the fire with 33 firefighters, five tankers, two engines and an air truck at the scene.Officials say the home is a total loss and a dog died in the fire.***ORIGINAL STORY***Emergency crews are responding to large house fire in Boone County, just northwest of Columbia.The house is located in the 9700 block of Route J.Dispatchers say flames are through the roof of the house and smoke can be seen from miles.An ABC 17 News crew is headed to the scene. Continue to check abc17news.com for the latest updates.
