HOUSE RAZED BY AFTERNOON FIRE NEAR WHITEWATER

WHITEWATER -- Volunteer firefighters from four rural fire districts battled a house fire for more than three hours Sunday before extinguishing it.

No one was hurt.

Firefighters from Whitewater, Delta, East Cape County and Millersville responded to the call. Some departments, like East Cape, sent manpower while Delta and Whitewater tackled much of the early flames.

The fire broke out late Sunday afternoon at the John Seabaugh house at the dead end of Church Street. Dispatchers for the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department first received a 911 call at 4:49.

Seabaugh, his wife and two grandchildren were inside when the fire started in another room, he said.

Seabaugh's son and daughter-in-law also lived in the home but weren't inside at the time, neighbors said.

The Seabaughs have lived in the house since 1972. All their belongings were destroyed by the fire. They had no insurance.

Neighbors and relatives offered condolences for Seabaugh's loss as he watched firefighters work to bring the flames under control.

Some offered help or a place to stay for the night. "He's got plenty of brothers and sisters and relatives around so we'll take care of 'em," said Esther Cook, a neighbor and cousin.

While nearly 50 people -- about half the population in Whitewater -- gathered in their yards or in lawn chairs to watch the blaze, one woman carried a water jug to firefighters.

"It's all I can do for them," said Martha Blumenberg, whose husband is a Whitewater volunteer firefighter. He helped organize the Whitewater Fire Protection District.

Martha Blumenberg wasn't allowed to get too close to the fire, so firefighters had to come to her for a drink of cool water.

"Most of them won't stop til they get it under control," she said. And when they do, they are always thirsty.

Other residents of the rural Cape Girardeau County community offered water and hot coffee. The Delta fire department also provided meat for sandwiches, Blumenberg said.

Delta firefighters had also been working to contain a grass fire in a field near Highway 25 earlier in the day.

They left that fire to burn itself out and responded to the house fire, one volunteer firefighter said.