A Fulton house previously investigated for dangerous conditions caught fire at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"There's extensive fire damage in the attic, and expensive water damage upstairs and downstairs," Fire Chief Kevin Coffelt said, standing in front of the yellow duplex at 212-214 E. 6th St.
None were injured in the fire; a woman and dog occupying the house at the time made it out unharmed.
Multiple engines, Emergency Medical Services and the Fulton Police Department responded to the scene. Firefighters knelt in the melting snow to aim powerful streams of water through the attic windows. Smoke boiled through a scorched gap in the roofing.
Nearby, the house's residents stood and watched.
"I was laying in bed with the dog, watching TV, when I noticed the light on the heater flickering," Kimberly Davis said. "Then I heard this crackling sound on the roof."
Davis said she went to investigate and spotted flames in an upper corner. Unable to fight the blaze herself due to medical issues, she got the dog and fled the house. Davis said she doesn't own a phone and ended up going next door to Glove Con to call the fire department.
The homeowner, Daniel Nash, said he wasn't home when the fire started, nor did he go to the attic to take a look. However, he said, he suspects wiring was to blame, based on the location of the fire.
A joint investigation with the Missouri State Fire Marshal's Office and the FFD determined the fire to be accidental, and possibly caused by a faulty second-floor outlet, according to a press release sent late Wednesday.
"I know this house inside and out," Nash said. "The city just inspected the wiring last week."
Dennis Houchins, Fulton's planning and planning and protective services director, confirmed the wiring had been recently inspected. He disagreed about the timing, however.
"We did electrical inspection on Sept. 18," he said. "(Nash) had fixed some things. That's when the electricity was turned on in the building. That's the last time I was in the building."
Trisha Barnhart, administrative assistant of utilities for the City of Fulton, confirmed that utilities were on for one side of the duplex.
Utilities weren't on in June 2017, when Fulton fire, utility and police responded to the house after neighbors reported a strong gas odor. They found Nash had been living in the basement with no utilities, running a portable generator for electricity. He had spilled gasoline while working on a motorcycle.
Two of Nash's former renters, who lived in the duplex's west side, were advised to seek other lodging, according to authorities. Maj. Roger Rice of the FPD said at the time that the place was a "perennial issue." The city's then-planning and protective services director, Les Hudson, spoke about trying to "get something done" about the property.