By Jodie Jackson Jr.
The Columbia Daily Tribune
BOON COUNTY, Mo. — More than 20 firefighters responded within minutes to a 911 call that Barbieri’s mobile home was on fire around 1:40 p.m. at Mathis Trailer Court in the 4700 block of North Kirsten Lane.
“I could see some flames. They were coming from the telephone,” Barbieri said at the scene of his burned-out home. He tried to douse the fire with wet towels, but “it just got away from me.”
Boone County Fire Protection District Division Chief Gale Blomenkamp said it was too early to determine an exact cause of the fire, which he said originated in the living room.
He said the trailer was valued at about $6,500 and the loss of contents was valued at $30,000. Barbieri said he did not have insurance.
Blomenkamp said when fire personnel made their initial entry into the burning structure, the floor had already collapsed.
He said Barbieri was given oxygen by firefighters but declined further medical attention.
“He checked out OK,” Blomenkamp said.
Fire district personnel also contacted the American Red Cross on Barbieris’ behalf.
Neighbor Carmen White, who called 911, brought Barbieri a change of clothes. White said that when she saw the fire, the windows had already blown out of the trailer. She said she watched as Barbieri moved his car from the front of the trailer “while the flames were shooting out.”
White also said the heat and smoke kept Barbieri from rescuing his cat.
Trailer park co-owner Judy Richards said she was especially moved by the firefighters burying Barbieri’s cat. Fire investigator John Wilke said the fire district makes that service a routine part of its victim support service.
“That’s wonderful that they’ll do that because that’s got to be one of the hardest things,” Richards said.
She said Barbieri was “a very helpful person — a good tenant.”
Barbieri, 61, said he would be staying with his wife, Dale, who lives in Ashland.
“He just lost everything in his life,” said Dale Barbieri, who arrived on the scene some 30 minutes after the fire was reported.
She said her husband, a Navy veteran, is in need of a liver transplant.
Barbieri said living apart has been one key to their 14 years of marriage. Both he and his wife have been married twice before.
“We agreed if we ever got married, we wouldn’t live together so we wouldn’t drive each other crazy,” he said. “She needs her space. I need my space. ... It’s worked.”
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