Raytown woman burned in overnight house fire

RAYTOWN, Mo. - A Raytown woman was in a local burn center with life-threatening injuries Saturday after an overnight house fire.

The Raytown Fire Department was dispatched to the home at 6828 Vermont St. shortly after 3 a.m. and found it fully involved upon arrival.

Firemen entered the home to search for occupants and removed the female victim from a bedroom.

The rescue was complicated by the heavy fire involvement, according to a news release from the department.

A second Raytown engine company and crews from Kansas City, Mo., were called in to assist with the fight.

The victim was taken by ambulance to a local hospital; she was later transferred to a burn center with life-threatening injuries.

The estimated damage to the home was $96,000, plus $20,000 in contents.

The cause of the fire has not been determined and the investigation is ongoing.

Battalion Chief Mike Hunley said firemen first thought the two other occupants of the home -– a teen and a young adult – had been home at the time of the fire. However, Hunley said, it was later determined that they were elsewhere overnight.