Firefighters extinguish two residential fires

COLUMBIA - Firefighters extinguished two residential fires in 24 hours.

One fire broke out at 501 E. Hinton Road at 1:30 p.m. Thursday that caused an estimated $25,000 in damage to the property.

The fire extended to a fourplex from a nearby trash pile. Jordan Elam and Marquis Lilly, two of the four residents, were at home when the fire occurred, but they were not harmed. They evacuated the building when a neighbor alerted them of the fire, according to a press release from the Boone County Fire District.

Gale Blomenkamp, Boone County division chief, said the cause of the fire was unclear but that it was ruled accidental.

Firefighters knocked down sections of the building to check how far the fire had progressed. They discovered flames had reached the attic and the insulation had caught on fire. Five fire trucks and 17 firefighters responded to the scene and worked for about an hour and a half.

A separate fire that occurred at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday was deemed intentionally set by trespassers, Blomenkamp said. That fire was set at a house under construction at Chamberlain Lane just off of Route K. The damage from this fire was minimal.

“It’s probably less than $400 damage,” Blomenkamp said. No one was arrested in connection with the Chamberlain Lane fire.