Multiple fire departments responded to a fully involved house fire early this morning in Waverly.
Members of the Franklin and Waverly Fire Departments received an emergency dispatch shortly after 3AM of a house on fire at 373 West Temple Street.
Waverly Fire Chief Jason Shumaker says that the earliest arriving units to the scene saved neighboring homes from burning: “They made an initial knock down trying to protect the neighboring structure that already had damage from heat and it had spread to the garage next door prior to anyone getting there just due to the time of the morning of the fire being detected. There were able to get it knocked down and keep it from spreading any farther. When additional Waverly and Franklin units arrived, they protected the structures to the north on the street over as it was spreading from the backyard towards the neighbor’s property and their shed and garage. Additional personnel from New Berlin, Scottville/Modesto, and a couple from Loami showed up. By the time the Scottville/Modesto and Loami crews got there, we pretty much had it completely knocked out and was hitting hot spots, so they were released pretty quick back to their home base. The structure was a total loss and the neighbor’s garage was a total loss. The neighbors also had extensive heat damage to the side of their house as well as to the windows on that side. Thankfully, nobody was home at the time of the fire. They were out of town due to work, so thankfully nobody was there and nobody was hurt.”
Shumaker says that the fire has not been deemed suspicious at this time after preliminary investigations. Out of protocol, he says, the Illinois State Fire Marshal was called to the scene to investigate and clear the scene.
Firefighters remained at the location checking for and dousing hot spots until approximately 9 o’clock this morning.
Also assisting with crowd control and contacting the tenants of the home was the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department with Echo Ambulance on standby for any potential medical support.