PIERRE, S.D. (KELO.com) — An early Friday morning fire does heavy damage to a duplex in Pierre.
Pierre Fire Chief Ian Paul says firefighters responded to a call of a structure fire around 12:15 am in the 100 block of 8th Street.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control in about 45 minutes.
Paul says it’s too early to determine a cause.
The female adult in the upper unit returned into the burning structure because she thought her kids were still inside. Paul says having a meeting place in the event of a fire is an important part of planning a fire escape.
Nine people total escaped the fire, five in the upper and four in the lower units of the building. Crews were on scene for at least hours to catch flare-ups and begin the investigation into a cause. Assisting on-scene were firefighters from Fort Pierre, AMR Ambulance and law enforcement.
(Zach Nelson, KCCR, contributed this report.)
