Heat tank malfunction causes fire

The three residents were not harmed.

By Lyndsie Manusos

Published Jan. 26, 2009

A heat tank in a north Columbia mobile home caught fire Saturday while a resident and several pets were in the residence.

The explosion at lot 57 at Elm Grove Mobile Home Park was reported to the Columbia Fire Department around 3 p.m. Saturday.

Justin Samuels of nearby lot 27, told fire investigators he heard a loud pop and had his wife call 911 when he saw smoke coming from the trailer.

Owners Karen L. Koenig and Sondra Gilberth were not home when the fire happened and there were no injuries. Peter Koenig, 24, three cats and two dogs were in the house at the time. Koenig and three pets escaped safely when the fire started, according to a fire department news release. Two cats died in the fire but Peter Koenig was not injured.

Samuels attempted to put out the fire using a portable fire extinguisher but it exhausted after the fire continued flaring back up, the release stated. He told investigators the fire was underneath the mobile home, which they said might be the reason why the fire alarms went off just as Koenig was leaving the home with his pets.

"It was a fire that originated under the home," CFD Battalion Chief Steven Sapp said.

Sapp said there was never an explosion, in spite of the reports.

"It appears there was a malfunction in the heat tank, or in the extension cord that was connected to the heat tank," Sapp said.

The malfunction was also due to the heat tape that protects the pipes near the water heater from freezing.

Karen Koenig and Gilberth arrived shortly after the fire began. Karen Koenig fainted at the scene at the sight of the damage and was treated by paramedics from Boone Hospital center, according to the release.

Sapp said the fire was extinguished at about 3:30, half an hour after firefighters arrived. Damages are estimated to be at least $50,000. The owners and their pets said they will stay with local relatives until they can relocate.

The Boone County chapter of the American Red Cross will also assist the family by providing food and clothing as needed, the news release stated.