Fire officials urge community to avoid Sugar Lake area due to large fire

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- St. Joseph fire officials urged the community to avoid the area of Sugar Lake, near the Lewis and Clark village, due to a large grass fire in the area.

Officials on scene said an abandoned house in the area was destroyed

Buchanan County Emergency Coordinator, Bill Brinton, said the cause of the fire is currently unknown.

"It's really too early to find out a source, but the lake itself has really, really high weeds, and we had a similar fire down here about four or five years ago that was a lot more catastrophic than this one," said Brinton.

A KQ2 reporter on scene observed large clouds of smoke while traveling toward the area.

KQ2 will update this article as information becomes available.