QULIN, Mo. — A Qulin woman is in critical condition at a St. Louis hospital after she was badly burned in a mobile home fire early this morning.
Amanda Danielle Butler, 29, was flown to St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis for treatment after she was injured in a fire, which occurred at about 1:15 a.m. today on Route N.
"I live about five blocks from it; when I stepped onto my carport, I could see the flames in the air," explained Qulin Fire Chief Alan Parks. "[The mobile home] was fully involved when we arrived on the scene."
When Parks arrived, he said, Bruce Allen Lucas came to the door of his truck and told him someone was still inside.
"When he went to bed, [William Kay Baugus] was laying on his couch asleep," Parks said.
Lucas, according to Parks, told him he awoke to the smell of smoke. "By the time he got out, it was fully involved," he said.
Once firefighters put out the fire, Parks said, they removed the collapsed roof and began searching the rubble for Baugus. After no one was found, he said, an area search was conducted around the home.
"[Baugus] was sitting, passed out, on the neighbor’s front porch," Parks said.
Baugus reported to Deputy Randle Huddleston he had "smelled smoke, so he got up and ran outside."
Lucas, 47, and Baugus, 46, both reportedly refused treatment at the scene. Parks said Butler, who was apparently burned getting out of the house, was flown from the scene.
Parks said it took about an hour for firefighters to put out the fire. They remained on the scene until about 4 a.m.
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