No one was injured in a late night structure fire Tuesday night on Jacksonville’s northeast side.
The Jacksonville Fire Department received a report of a structure fire at 918 East Independence Avenue just before midnight. Upon arrival, firefighters found a single-story ranch house full involved on the east side, blowing out of the front living room windows.
South Jacksonville fire crews arrived and provided mutual aid to extinguish and overhaul the structure.
Both tenants who were home at the time of the fire made it out safely. The reported officials that electrical work had recently been completed on the breaker box and that the home was having electrical problems. Officials say that the fire originated in a living area closest to the kitchen.
Jacksonville Fire Captain Matt Summers says that the fire cause is undetermined but not deemed suspicious: “After investigation, there is still some things unanswered. There is a lot of damage in those areas so a lot of the proof in things in those areas was obviously damaged, as well and makes it hard to tell what the actual cause was. Electrical breakers and things were tripped in that area, and other damage to the kitchen area and stove is pretty obvious. Again, everybody got out safely and the crews from Jacksonville and South Jacksonville did a real good job. I want to thank them. We closed everything back up and turned everything back over to the owner later this morning.”
Estimated property and content losses are approximately $60,000.
Fire crews were on scene for just over an hour. No other issues or injuries were reported.