Man dies in Saturday fire

By Lynn A. Wade

Nevada Daily Mail

A blaze that broke out in a Vernon County home just outside Nevada on County Road 1325 and took the life of 75-year-old Lewis Carter is of undetermined origin, Mike O'Connell, Missouri Department of Public Safety communications director, said Monday.

"The fire cause is listed as undetermined. The investigation was not able to eliminate the possibility that the cause of the blaze was electrical," O'Connell said.

Deerfield Fire Chief Bill Smith, who attended the fire in a non-official capacity because he's recovering from an injury, said the department got the call at 7:28 p.m.; noting that because it was reportedly fully engulfed in flames at the time and people were believed to be in the home, dispatchers at the Western Missouri 911 Dispatch Center immediately also dispatched Nevada firefighters to the scene. Later, at the Deerfield Fire Department's request, the Compton Junction and Milo fire departments also were summoned for mutual aid, according to Smith.

Witnesses said that at one point, flames soared to several feet above the structure.

Smith said that by the time firefighters arrived there was "no way to make entry and try to get somebody out," adding that the tragedy was "just terrible."

It's the first time he could recall that the Deerfield department had responded to a fatal scene, although there was one incident in which the victim died a few days after the fire.

The victim's wife escaped the fire and was treated at Nevada Regional Medical Center.

Funeral arrangements for Carter are pending, and are under the direction of Ferry Funeral Home, Nevada.