Area Fire Departments responded to multiple fire calls overnight in the area.
No one was injured in a house fire that displaced a South Jacksonville family overnight. West Central Illinois Dispatch received a call of a fire in a residential structure at 216 East Greenwood Avenue at 10:34 Wednesday night.
Both South Jacksonville and Jacksonville fire departments were dispatched to the call.
South Jacksonville Fire Chief Richard Evans says a portion of the house was engulfed when crews arrived on scene.
“We arrived on scene and found a front bedroom of the residence heavily involved with fire. South Jacksonville and Jacksonville Fire made a quick fire attack. All of the occupants were out of the structure prior to our arrival. We got a quick knock on the fire and it was pretty well contained to the bedroom and attic area. The rest of the house received heat, smoke, and water damage.”
Chief Evans says a cause of the fire is undetermined at this time, however, they suspect some electrical issues are to blame. He says nothing was found to lead them to believe the fire was suspicions in nature. Investigators from the Office of the State Fire Marshal will be on hand to conduct an investigation into the cause this afternoon.
South Jacksonville Fire Department crews cleared the scene at approximately 1:00 this morning.
Jacksonville Fire Department crews were called away from assisting with the structure fire on East Greenwood after a call came in at approximately 11:23 pm for a fire at the Papa John’s on the 900 block of West Morton Avenue.
Jacksonville Fire Department Captain Mike Griffits says the fire on East Greenwood was well under control when the call came in. He says when they arrived at Papa John’s a power supply to a meter box had overloaded and burnt up.
Griffits says there was no active fire at the establishment and a crew from Ameren Illinois was called to disconnect the power. He says no serious damage was sustained in the incident, although smoke did filter throughout the establishment. Crews cleared the scene at approximately midnight.
Jacksonville Fire Crews assisted the Alexander Fire Department with a semi-truck fire on Interstate 72 near mile marker 75 at approximately 5:30 last night. Griffits says Alexander Fire Crews had the fire under control when they arrived and Jacksonville provided assistance with blocking traffic and safety measures while on scene.
Jacksonville cleared that scene at just after 7:00 pm.