Fire destroys home

ST. JOE - The cause of a fire that engulfed a St. Joe home on Friday and displaced a family is under investigation, according to Southwest Mercer Fire Chief Roger Lennartz.

After receiving a report of a house on fire at 1784 St. Joe Road at 1:07 p.m. Friday, firefighters arrived to find half of the two-story home fully engulfed by the flames. No residents were home at the time, and Lennartz presumed a neighbor had reported the fire.

Ten fire trucks with 37 firefighters from the Southwest Mercer, Burkettsville, St. Henry and Coldwater fire departments were on the scene for four hours, battling the initial blaze and stabilizing the scene afterward. St. Henry EMS had also reportedly been on the scene, but Lennartz said no people had been killed or injured. However, two family dogs had died in the fire.

Homeowner Annette Schmitt, a Daily Standard employee, said she'd been alerted to the fire shortly after 1 p.m., when she was taking her lunch break. One of her neighbors must have noticed and called the fire department, she said, but by that point, the fire had been burning for some time.

Aside from her two dogs, no other family members were harmed, and Schmitt said they had other family members in the area who could take them in for the time being.

"You can replace things, not family," Schmitt said.

Lennartz declared the house a total loss on Friday night. The cause of the fire will be investigated further by the insurance company, he said.

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