Woman and child, two dogs saved from house fire in Mexico
Olivia Hayes
MEXICO, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mexico’s Public Safety Department says it saved a woman and a child from a house fire Wednesday afternoon.
According to a press release from the department, MPSD responded to the 1000 block of Robinhood for a house fire after neighbors reported seeing smoke and flame coming from a home nearby. The neighbors got two dogs out “before the fire became too intense,” the release said. First responders found the fire coming from the south side of the home, and the fire was starting to catch the neighbor’s house.
The release said that during the response, a woman called Audrain County Joint Communications about she and a child trapped in the basement of the home.
Virgene Higby, the home’s owner, tells ABC 17 News the two people rescued were her daughter-in-law and grandson.
“Major Thompson an Officer Goodman saved my daughter-in-law and my grandson,” Higby said.
Rescuers got the woman and child out of the basement through a window on the north side of the home, the release said. Medics said they did not need further medical attention. The original house suffered serious fire damage; the neighboring house had minor fire damage.
Investigators believe “the accidental loss of embers while smoking” caused the fire.
“It burned the underside of the stairs,” Higby said, gesturing at the stairs in her garage. “That’s what tells them that the fire originated right here.”
Higby said investigators told her a cigarette likely sparked the fire and that paint and aerosol cans in the garage accelerated it.
She said she is speaking with insurance Thursday to figure out her next steps. Higby is leaning on her friends, family and faith during this time as she looks to rebuild.