Neighbors say that Springfield House Fire is the result of the homeless problem

Springfield, Mo. (Ky3) – A suspicious house fire in Springfield sent flames into the air on Wednesday morning.

“Whoa! Take a look at that! It's real. The whole thing was on fire. I will not lie, I even panicked a little. It was so cold outside. I felt this heat from exactly there, ”said Lonnie Gray.

A house fire in the North Main Ave made the whole neighborhood talk.

“I don't think this side of the city is certainly safe. “It is due to the homeless. They tell them they should stay outside and they don't stay outside, ”said Deandra Dixon.

The owner and developer Royce Reding says that he is disappointed that the house is a complete loss.

“It really hurt our efforts, our city we love and are interested in really reviving.”

Reding says his company focuses on the rehabilitation of houses all over the city.

“If you go through the north side of Springfield, Divison Street, I call it our area. They see a lot of houses that have been renewed there, ”he said.

However, he says that potential criminals and vagrants hinder his work.

“Unfortunately we didn't burn down houses every day, but we encounter problems with homeless people and house occupiers, drug problems, theft problems, really almost every day,” said Reding.

He says this is not the first time that the house on the North Main was caught or caught. Since he bought the property, he has been working with the city to fix the problem.

“We would have it new on board while we worked with the city. After the first fire here (the plan) it should be torn down. That was a lengthy process of about 4 months to try to get from point A to actually demonstrate it, ”he said.

Reding says that the challenges that he faces during the renovation process have reached a fever place.

“I hope that our community can start to see that we have a serious problem, and we need a guided tour to really take a step forward to tackle it,” he said.

Despite this last setback, Reding says that he will not stop his efforts to revive Springfield.

“We will continue. We will hug it. We have seen improvements that work with the city's employees. I would like to praise you for the steps you have done. But we're not there yet, ”he said.

The investigators are still working on determining the official cause of the fire.

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