FARMINGTON, Mo. (AP) - A house fire in rural eastern Missouri has killed a 5-year-old girl and left her parents seriously injured, authorities and a relative of the family said.
The fire broke out early Tuesday morning in the unincorporated community of Doe Run in St. Francois County. Doe Run Fire Chief Bobby Usher told the Daily Journal that firefighters who were called to the home shortly after 2 a.m. arrived to find it fully engulfed in flames. One person was pulled alive from the burning home, and another person died in the fire, Usher said.
The grandfather of the child, John Snider, told KTVI that she died in the fire and identified her as 5-year-old Peighton Peterson. Snider said his daughter, Tori Peterson, escaped by jumping from a bedroom window and that his son-in-law was overcome while trying to save Peighton.
Both James and Tori Peterson were being treated for serious injures a St. Louis burn unit, Snider said.
The state fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the fire.
Doe Run is about 65 miles south of St. Louis.
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