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WENTZVILLE, MO - A Wentzville family is homeless tonight after fire destroys their home. The family was at church, but neighbors knew two dogs were inside and fought to get them out. However, they failed to get inside. It was too hot.

One neighbor shot video to show how the home on Hampton Lane Court was fully engulfed in flames. You could hear the crackling.

Fire crews from Wentzville and New Melle arrived and they were able to get both dogs out, but one of them died. The other dog went to a vet to be treated.

The family came back from church to find their home a total loss. Firefighters spent hours spraying hotspots. They say the blaze was so intense it`ll take a while to determine where the fire started and why.

Wentzville Fire Battalion Chief Michael Scott said, “As units got on the scene we went to a kind of defensive/offensive attack, protecting the exposures on both the bravo, which is the left side of the house and the delta, which is the right side of the house. We were able to get aerial operations and knock the fire down.”

Neighbor Christy Brooks talked about how hot the fire was from the start, “When we walked out, the whole front, the flames were already through the roof. The front windows were already busted out and we knew there were two dogs in the house so my kids and some of the neighbor kids and my husband were trying to get into the back.”

It was too hot. Some neighbors who saw it from the beginning thought it was most intense in the dining room area with the Christmas tree. Battalion Chief Scott says the fire was so massive there is no obvious area where it started, which will make it harder to find why.

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