As fire spread across Aamanda Paletta's house on Wednesday night, fire trucks were stopped, just out of reach, hopelessly stuck in knee-deep mud.
After being toned out to a structure fire at 11:17 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7, several Gravois Fire Protection District fire trucks got stuck in mud on a private drive and were unable to get to the fire. The fire was in a house, located on Tierra Lane, off Route J, in Gravois Mills, but a week of wet weather had made the dirt road nearly impassable for the large trucks.
According to the homeowner, Paletta, she had just gotten home from working at Dollar General and sat down at the kitchen table, when she heard loud popping noises. “I jumped up and looked out the window and saw flames shooting out everywhere,” she remembered. Her three children, Kimberly, Clarice and Paul were in bed sleeping. “I yelled at the kids to get outside!” The house was quickly filling with thick black smoke. Kimberly called 911. “Once outside, we grabbed some buckets and started putting water on the flames,” Paletta said.
The flames started to spread and move to the inside of the house and up the living room wall.” Two dogs and two cats were also in the house at the time of the fire. So far, they have accounted for the dogs and one cat. “We hope the other cat just ran off,” she said.
According to Gravois Fire Chief Ed Hancock, the road to the house was almost impassable. “Three trucks were taken out of service as a result,” Chief Hancock said.
A neighbor that lives across the road saw the fire and came to help with the buckets of water. An ambulance was able to get through the mud, but all the other units behind the immobilized fire trucks were unable to get to the fire. Two firefighters ran up the road to begin attacking the fire with fire extinguishers.
“Once we were able to get out of the mud, and we got to the fire, we found a small fire in the wall behind a wood stove,” Chief Hancock said. “The fire extended to the outside of the house and then back into the structure.
The fire was brought under control in less than two-hours, but personnel remained on the scene until 4 a.m. working to free and repair fire apparatus.
“There is heat damage to the metal siding, damage to an interior wall of the structure, and moderate smoke damage to the rest of the house,” Chief Hancock said. “The structure is still standing.”
“We don’t have insurance,” Paletta worried, explaining, “We are uninsurable because of the road and the wood stove.”
Five units and eight firefighters responded, with some being cancelled in route.
“They were fortunate the loss wasn’t heavier, with the road conditions, and the time it took for us to get to the house,” Chief Hancock said. “Most of the work was just trying to get in and then back out. Letters were delivered to that address six years ago telling them that they needed to maintain the road, in order for emergency vehicles to be able to get to their house.”
“For folks that live on private roads, or long lanes, if they are not maintained by state, or the county, they need to keep them passable. We can only help if we can get there. If the roads are too narrow, with gates or posts, or a bridge that won’t support fire apparatus, we can’t get through. We will try… but we may not be able to get there. Anything that inhibits the time it takes the trucks to get there, or limits the size of the unit, will hinder firefighting capabilities.”
Cold Weather Tips
Chief Hancock said the fire was started by the wood stove. With the onset of cold weather, he advises homeowners to have their wood stove inspected and flues cleaned annually, due to the build-up of creosote. “Have furnaces checked and keep filters clean,” he added. “I want to remind homeowners too, that kerosene heaters and electric space heaters are not meant to be used unsupervised, as they can malfunction. Be careful not to place them too close to flammable items. Most importantly, have smoke detectors and change the batteries. They do save lives, but only if they work.”
What Next?
The family stayed with relatives Wednesday night, and the kids missed school on Thursday. They were planning to go survey the damage on Thursday. “We are not sure of the extent of the damage,” Paletta said. “First, I want to see if we can even get the electricity turned back on, so we can go home. There was a lot of smoke in the house. It is frustrating, I have tried so hard to just get ahead. It’s a blow. But at least we still have a house.”
“I know we are going to have to repair the one wall,” she said. The Lil’ Bar in Gravois Mills is accepting donations on behalf of the family to help them with the cost of repairs, so that they can return home.
“The firefighters were awesome," she added. "They did a great job fighting the fire and keeping everyone calm.”
The kids were coughing some the next day because of the smoke, but thankfully, no one was injured. She acknowledged the fire could have been far worse: “If I would not have been there, the kids would have been asleep in bed. Who knows what could have happened.”
