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FARMINGTON, Mo. (AP) - A 22-year-old Farmington, Missouri man is badly burned, and may face criminal charges, after a fire at his apartment was blamed on a methamphetamine lab.

The Daily Journal reports that the fire broke out last week in Farmington. A man in the apartment suffered serious burns to his face and arms.

Witnesses contacted police early Wednesday after seeing burning clothes on the sidewalk and a nude man running from the scene. The man was not found immediately but was eventually tracked down in St. Louis, where he sought treatment at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

Inside the burned apartment, police found equipment that appeared to be remnants of a meth lab.

Police are planning to charge the man with first-degree arson.

 

   

   Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a two-alarm fire that shut down a busy St. Louis County roadway for several hours Sunday evening.  Flames and smoke from the fire along Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in Wellston could be seen for miles.  

   King Drive was closed just west of Kielien for about four hours while firefighters from seven departments battled the blaze.  

   The fire destroyed a warehouse on the site of an old car dealership.  

   Fire officials say the building was vacant, and no one was hurt.

St.  Louis  firefighters were forced to evacuate a burning home on Theodosia in north St. Louis this morning. One person inside the home has died. Details to follow.

   WEST, Texas (AP) — The mayor of a Texas town where a fertilizer plant explosion injured more than 100 people says some firefighters who were battling a blaze when the blast happened aren't accounted for.

   West Mayor Tommy Muska says there were five or six volunteer firefighters battling the blaze at the West Fertilizer plant when the explosion happened just before 8 p.m. Wednesday.

   Muska, who is a volunteer firefighter himself, says not all of his fellow firefighters are accounted for. He says the blast knocked his helmet off and shattered the windows of his nearby home.

   Authorities say an unknown number of people were killed in the blast, which leveled buildings for blocks in every direction.

   Firefighters remain on the scene of a smokey fire that's destroyed a metro-east salvage yard.  Cahokia fire officials say the blaze broke out about 2:30 Monday afternoon at Marty's Salvage Yard in the 2000 block of Camp Jackson Road.  

   Burning tires and auto parts created a huge column of black smoke that could be seen for miles.  The thick smoke prompted authorities to bring in HazMat crews.  

   Firefighters could remain at the scene all night as they deal with hot spots.  

   Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire.  

   Cahokia Assistant Fire Chief  Stephen Robbins says there were two minor injuries -- a salvage yard worker and a firefighter who suffered smoke inhalation. 

FORT OSAGE, Mo. (AP) - A 47-year-old assistant Fort Osage fire chief has died in crash on his way to a fire in rural Jackson County.

 

The Kansas City Star reports that Harold Hollingsworth, a 16-year veteran with Fort Osage, was driving to a fire during a severe thunderstorm Sunday night when his fire department SUV slid off the road and hit a tree.

 

Todd Farley, an assistant fire chief with the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District, say it's the first time a Fort Osage firefighter has died in the line of duty.

 

Fort Osage is a town of about 7,000 about 30 miles east of Kansas City. The Missouri State Highway Patrol is investigating.

 

Funeral arrangements were pending Monday.

 

Officials say a fire at a Nevada, Missouri probation and parole office was deliberately set.

A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information about last week's fire at the office.

Both state and federal fire investigators determined the blaze was arson.

UNION, Mo. (AP) — A woman and her two children have died in a mobile home fire in the eastern Missouri town of Union.

Union police said the home was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters responded Friday night.

After extinguishing the blaze, firefighters found the bodies of the 24-year-old woman and her two children, ages 1 and 6. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that their names weren't immediately released.

The woman's 26-year-old husband wasn't home at the time of the fire. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Three people were able to escape a fire that swept through their Troy, Illinois home just before 5:00am Thursday. Firefighters remained at 31 Stonebrooke in Troy, Illinois for three hours.

Flames could be seen shooting through the roof of the home by neighbors. Fox 2 reports three people got out safely. They are Annie Herrin, her daughter Courtney and her boyfriend, Paul Coopman. Coopman reportedly was awakened by an explosion coming from the garage and was able to get the women out safely. There's still no word on a cause but firefighters are not considering it a suspicious fire.

Fox 2 reports three months ago the family buried Annie's husband, 47-year-old Jimmy Herrin, died from pancreatic cancer. A trust fund for the family has been set up at US Bank in Troy, Illinois.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A Springfield woman is suing her former landlord over a fire that killed her three children.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that Violet Watson is asking in excess of $25,000 in damages in the suit filed this month in Green County.

The March 2010 fire killed 7-year-old Alexis Watson, 5-year-old Kelsey Watson and 4-year-old Devin Watson. The children's grandfather was seriously injured.

Initially, Violet Watson's then-fiance was charged with setting the fire. But the charge was dropped after laboratory tests found no trace of an accelerant. The cause of the fire is listed as undetermined.

The lawsuit says the landlords failed to maintain a safe property for the home's residents. The suit says there were smoke alarm issues and that the house had "faulty wiring."