Fire destroys home near Fruitland

Fire destroyed a home near Fruitland on Saturday afternoon.

Fruitland fire chief Rob Francis said no residents or firefighters were injured in the blaze on Cape Girardeau County Road 525.

"Nobody was home at the time of the fire," he said. "The neighbors were the ones who called it in."

He also said the cause of the fire hasn't been determined.

The house, which was about 1,000 square feet including the attic, was destroyed.

The Fruitland and East County fire protection districts responded to help put out the fire.

Francis said the districts' mutual-aid agreement was instrumental in extinguishing the blaze quickly.

"The automatic mutual aid worked really well in getting units out here," he said.

Together, firefighters used more than nine water-truck loads, over 18,000 gallons in total.