Williamsburg - A family was displaced from their home Tuesday after a late morning fire engulfed the residence at 5521 State Road D.
Jason and Tonya Ballard traveled to Fulton around 11 a.m. when they received a call at Business Highway 54 and State Route Z informing them that their home was on fire. The call came from an employee at Aaron's: Rent to Own store, where Jason Ballard works. The employee found out about the fire through Tonya Ballard's sister, who lives next door with their mother.
Jason Ballard said it didn't take him more than 15 minutes to return home. When he arrived, flames already fully consumed his home and firefighters were on scene trying to put out the blaze.
"It was so engulfed you couldn't get within 20 feet of it," Ballard said.
North, Central and South Callaway Fire Protection Districts responded. The Ballards have a 16-year-old daughter who was at school at the time of the fire.
Their belongings are a total loss, including more than 80 pieces of cast iron. Jason Ballard said their pets died in the fire. Their two dogs - Stormy, an English bulldog, and Tinker, a poodle-chihuahua mix - and eight birds were members of the family. Tonya Ballard referred to their pets as their babies.
"I can replace (the cast iron), you know," he said. "We'll replace everything that was in there, but you can never replace them."
Standing in his front yard, Jason Ballard remembered Stormy. He said the two of them did everything together - even share sauerkraut.
"I'd come in, she'd wave to me, she'd bounce all over the place, she slept with me, she ate with me," Jason Ballard said. "That was my biggest loss. "
Jason Ballard said firefighters were unsure what caused the house to ignite, but he suspects it was electrical. A fan was running in the back of the home.
The Ballards have a woodstove, and Jason Ballard said it had not been started for two days because of the warmer weather. He added that he's burned wood his entire life and has never had any scares.