STE. GENEVIEVE – The Ste Genevieve Fire District along with the Ste. Genevieve County Fire District stations 1 & 8 were dispatched at 3:24 PM (Monday) to a first alarm structure fire in a garage in the 400 block of Walnut Street.
Heavy smoke was visible from the firehouse as the first truck responded. The first unit arrived on the scene within four minutes of dispatch, to find heavy fire coming out the garage door.
An aggressive initial attack using a large stream nozzle from the truck was used to slow the fire.
Due to the amount of fire, a second alarm was dispatched and brought a truck and manpower from the remaining Ste Genevieve County Fire District stations 3, 5, 6, and 7 to assist.
The fire was brought under control within 15 minutes of arrival using three handlines but required extensive overhaul due to contents and extension to the attic space above the garage. There was smoke and water damage in the living space of the house, but the fire was contained to the garage.
Due to the large amount of fire, the Missouri State Fire Marshals Office was requested to aid in the investigation.
The cause of the fire is officially undetermined but believed to possibly have started due to a malfunction in an E-BIKE charging system.
Units stayed on scene until 8:20 pm to complete the fire investigation.
The Ste Genevieve Fire District would like to thank the Missouri State Fire Marshals office, Ste Genevieve Fire District Rehab Team, Ste. Genevieve County Fire Protection District, Ste Genevieve County Ambulance District and Ste. Genevieve Police Department for their assistance on this call. We would like to say a special thank you to the neighbors who assisted on the scene and the entire community for the support they always show us. If you have ever thought of becoming a volunteer fire fighter, we are always accepting applications. No experience needed and we will train you to serve the community.
The Ste Genevieve Fire District would like to remind everyone not to leave batteries on chargers any longer than is required to bring the battery to fully charge. Batteries should be monitored while charging and removed from chargers when fully charged. With the new lithium batteries in use in almost everything that uses batteries there has been a major increase in the number of charger fire incidents.
Information on Lithium Battery safety can be found on the following websites
https://www.facebook.com/reel/794701079923908
https://www.nfpa.org/…/energy…/lithium-ion-batteries
https://batteryfiresafety.org/