By Henry Bailey
The Commercial Appeal

EUDORA, Tenn. — The rural character in the hilly lake area near Eudora attracts residents and charms visitors, but its lack of hydrants hampered firefighters responding Wednesday to a fire at 2377 Kelly Road.

"It's under investigation but it looks like a total loss," said Eudora Deputy Fire Chief Billy Lacey. He said the call to the one-story house , built about 30 years ago in the Woodland Lake area of southwest DeSoto County, came early in the afternoon and the blaze was under control in about two hours.

He said roadside access to the property, occupied by "a man and his dog," was no problem for emergency vehicles. But water was.

"There are no hydrants," Lacey said. "We had to truck all our water in."

He said a total of four tanker trucks were employed, along with two engines. In addition to his crews, firefighters came from Walls, Horn Lake, Bridgetown, Nesbit and the Love community.

With the afternoon high in the mid-90s, a Eudora firefighter was overcome by heat and transported for treatment, Lacey said. "But he's OK."

An investigation into the fire's cause is being conducted by Bobby Storey, county Emergency Services director and fire marshal.

"It's really scary," said neighbor Susan Sparks of Woodland Lake Drive . She said fire hydrants have been a concern and the community is in the process of putting in three outlets in the lake to allow tapping of water in a fire emergency.

Access is another issue.

Sparks said Woodland Lake Drive is so narrow "you have to pull over if you come across another driver. I don't know how one of those big tanker trucks could get in here."

Copyright 2010 The Commercial Appeal, Inc.