A single-family home in Murrayville is a total loss after a lawnmower caught fire Monday afternoon.
Both the Murrayville and Woodson Fire Departments responded to a call of a structure fire at 103 Murray Street in Murrayville just after 4 pm Monday.
Murrayville Fire Chief Cody Kitselman says the fire originated in the attached garage after a lawnmower caught fire. He says once the garage caught fire, it quickly spread into the attic of the house.
“The garage was fully involved when the guys got on scene and it spread into the attic of the house. The inside of the house wasn’t damaged much by the fire but was heavily damaged by the water and smoke. The ceiling came down and of course with having the ventilation on the side of the house to get into the attic to get the fire extinguished that had spread across from the garage.
Nobody was injured, everyone had made it out safely. One of the homeowners after he kinda calmed down, we gave him a little bit of oxygen because he did have some smoke inhalation.”
Chief Kitselman says his crews were able to retrieve some clothes and heirlooms from the home for the owners once the fire was put out.
Murrayville was given mutual aid from Woodson as well as a crew from Roodhouse and Kitselman says South Jacksonville Fire Chief Richard Evans Jr. dispatched a few members of his department from the scene of the vacant structure fire in Jacksonville to assist.
Fire crews cleared the scene at approximately 6:45 pm. Kitselman says the upper structure of the home is not structurally stable to support rebuilding and the structure has been deemed a total loss.