A fire in Southeast Kansas destroys a home on Christmas.
Crews received a call at 10:14 AM that a brick house north of Riverton off alternate highway 69 caught fire.
Crews say the fire started around the fire place and that the entire attic caught fire. The home owner Mark Wittmeyer and his daughter were in the house making breakfast at the time it started. He said the smoke alarm went off, so they went outside and noticed a hole through the roof. Eight trucks from Galena, Baxter Springs and Columbus showed up on scene.
Galena Fire Chief Bill Hall says the wind made it very difficult for crews to put the fire out quickly.
"Fires are bad but on Christmas day it seems like it's more terrible for the family and they're going to loose everything because it was just impossible to put the fire out" says Chief Hall.
The home was considered a total loss, Wittmeyer told us he does have insurance.