A spokesperson with the state fire marshal’s office said the blaze likely originated in the dining room.
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Investigators with the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office said a fire that killed two people in Wright City early Friday morning was most likely accidental.
The fire was reported after midnight on Friday, March 8, in the 200 block of Westwoods Road. Two occupants of the home – identified as 23-year-old Haley Lynn Foreman and her three-month-old daughter Matea Carter Foreman – were rescued from the home by a Wright City firefighter. Both were transported to the hospital in critical condition and later died.
A third occupant – a 21-year-old man – remains hospitalized in critical condition. Two other occupants in the home were able to safely escape the residence, officials reported.
A spokesperson with the state fire marshal’s office said the blaze likely originated in the dining room.
“An extension cord ran from an outlet in the area of origin to the living room and an electrical cause to the fire could not be eliminated as the cause of the fire,” Mike O’Connell, communications director, wrote in an email to The Record.
The home sustained major damage in the blaze. When first responders arrived at the home, they were told two occupants – the woman and infant – remained inside. Wright City Police Sgt. Michael Filson directed firefighters to a bedroom where he could hear shallow breathing from the exterior of the residence, according to a press release. Firefighter Cameron Spires entered the bedroom through an exterior window, encountered heavy heat conditions and zero visibility, and managed to find the infant. He brought her to awaiting first responders outside the window. He returned to locate the female in the bedroom.
It took firefighters 45 minutes to get the blaze under control and they remained on the scene until 6 a.m., according to Wright City Fire Chief Ron MacKnight. Other agencies who responded were from Warrenton, Lincoln County and Wentzville.
“I have to give props to Spires,” MacKnight told The Record. “He went in that room, nobody forced him to go in, it was very dangerous conditions. His gear is roughed up, his air tank is scorched; he put his life on the line. You have to tip the helmet to somebody in that moment to be that brave and do it alone.”
Haley Foreman was pronounced dead at the hospital on the same day as the fire and her daughter died three days later on March 11. No funeral arrangements have been released as of press time.
