Family returns from Easter brunch to find Belleville home damaged by fire
After a brunch that included chocolate-dipped macaroons at Jilly’s Cupcake Bar & Cafe in St. Louis, Jenny Fox and Eric Oetjen were returning to their Belleville home when a neighbor called to tell them their house was on fire.
Oetjen called his father, who lives nearby, to assess the damage.
One of the walls was badly burned — the aluminum siding had melted away into puddles — the gutter had crinkled up, and many of the wood slats in the porch were charred and gone.
The fire reached into the kitchen and the bedroom, which had just been remodeled with new floors and furniture in August.
The extent of the damage has yet to be determined. So were Fox and Oejfen’s Easter plans as they returned to fire crews wrapping up their work.
The Belleville Fire Department got the call about 1:15 p.m. and were at 208 Lucinda Ave. two minutes later, Assistant Fire Chief J.P. Penet said.
About 20 minutes later, firefighters had largely put out the blaze, which had been caused by discarded embers, and were chipping through the wall to see whether any flames had spread throughout the wood structure to other parts of the house.
No one was home at the time of the incident, and there were no injuries, Penet said over the whir of a large fan pushing out the lingering smoke.
Minutes later, Fox and Oetjen returned home.
They had planned to be out all day, so Fox grabbed her makeup bag before heading out, she said. After brunch, they were going to go Fox’s aunt’s home and then see Oetjen’s parents.
Now, facing their house, Fox wondered about where they were going to stay that night and whether they could salvage this week’s meals, which they had already made. She wondered about her clothes, too, and whether they were ruined by smoke.
Then again, she said smiling, she and Oetjen could just keep on visiting relatives.
Casey Bischel: 618-239-2655, @CaseyBischel
This story was originally published March 27, 2016 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Family returns from Easter brunch to find Belleville home damaged by fire."