ST. LOUIS – Firefighters battled two vacant building fires in the St. Louis area within 12 hours.
“It takes a lot of manpower and a lot of equipment to contain and control one of these types of fires,” said Chief Dennis Jenkerson of the St. Louis Fire Department.
Colder weather is usually not associated with building fires, but Jenkerson said the two building fires in the St. Louis downtown area are just the beginning.
“I’m sure it’s going to get a little colder in the city as we progress into the next couple months, and people are going to look to stay warm,” he said.
Homeless people will often move into abandoned buildings, looking to stay warm. Sometimes the fires they build to keep them cozy can engulf a building, and sometimes it can be fatal.
“We know they are in there,” Jenkerson said. “Some of them make it out, and some of them don’t.”
No injuries were reported from the two fires. However, one person was transported to a nearby hospital with no life-threatening injuries.