For the second time in less than a month, an apparent squatter sparked a fire which, this time, destroyed a vacant mobile home south of Owensville.

Owensville Fire Department volunteers were toned out at 9:20 a.m Aug. 4 for a residential structure fire at the corner of South Fourth and Marie Lane. What was supposedly an unoccupied mobile home was on fire and a female on the scene told Fire Chief Jeff Arnold she awoke to a “popping sound.”

With limited manpower available, Arnold called for mutual aid response. Firemen from the Hermann, Gerald-Rosebud, Beaufort-Leslie, Cuba, Bland, and Sullivan fire departments and districts responded.

The woman who spoke to Arnold initially at the scene left the area.

Gasconade County Sheriff Scott Eiler said the mobile home’s owner told one of his deputies he didn’t want to pursue charges against the woman and had planned to destroy the aging structure anyway.

“According to the owner, the female did not have permission on staying there,” said Eiler in an email. “Deputy advised Fire Marshal declined to investigate.”

Arnold, too, said the Fire Marshal’s office did not plan to investigate.

“The owner was preparing to demolish it,” said Arnold. “No one was supposed to be in there.”

The mobile home did not have an electric or gas service connected nor did the building, a 1960s to 1970s trailer, have any water or sewer service connected, Arnold said. He said the woman told him she had candle burning for a light source and had fallen asleep.

In July, fire destroyed a storage building inside the city limits off of South Cuba and McFadden. It is believed someone was sleeping in the structure on a mattress placed over wooden shipping pallets. A discarded cigarette butt is believed to have caught the mattress on fire, destroying much of the northwest corner of the building along the alley. Heavy smoke, water, and fire damage was evident through the more than 20 rental units on the site. Contents of the storage units remains strewn about the site.

Arnold said he’s spoken with the owner of the H&M Storage facility. As instructed by their insurance carrier, the owner has notified each of the renters by certified mail, or is attempting to reach them, that they have until the weekend of Aug. 21-22 to remove any salvageable belongings. What remains inside the units or on the ground after that weekend will be removed by the building’s owner and disposed of, said Arnold.