Rural Red Oak home damaged in fire

 RED OAK – A rural Red Oak home was extensively damaged in a fire Thursday night. 

Red Oak Fire Chief Jamie Blount said a call came in at 6:30 p.m. reporting the fire at 2359 Highway 48, about 3.5 miles south of Red Oak. 

Owned by David and Lori Barkman, the home was undergoing construction of an addition and the Barkmans and their children were living in the existing structure, which is where the fire started. With 11 trucks and nearly 30 firefighters responding, Blount said they were able to contain the blaze to the existing structure. 

While David and Lori were at home at the time of the fire, no one was injured. 

At this time, Blount believes the cause of the fire was electrical in nature. 

In addition to Red Oak firefighters, mutual aid was requested and received from Elliot, Stanton and Essex’s fire departments. 

“With the weather conditions and the size of the fire, we needed the extra help so we could rotate out our guys so they could rest periodically,” Blount said. 

Firefighters were on scene more than five hours. 

“It was a tough fire,” Blount said. “It was pretty cold out there.”