Former Delta schoolhouse gutted by fire

DELTA, Mo. -- A late-night electrical fire gutted a Delta home, leaving nothing standing but the east end of the garage.

Delta fire chief Alvin Frank said no one was in the home at the time of the blaze, which happened around 11 p.m. Saturday. He said the cause was electrical, noting the home contained a lot of old copper wiring.

Fire units from Whitewater, Mo., Marble Hill, Mo., and Advance, Mo., responded to the fire, which could be seen glowing in the sky from miles away.

When crews arrived on the scene the roof had already collapsed.

"We ended up saving only the garage," Frank said. "But all of the stuff in it was totaled due to smoke and heat damage."

The home is at 700 County Road 254 and used to serve the Delta community as the Oak Valley schoolhouse from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s.

It now belongs to Alan and Leona Stoffregen.