The Murrayville Volunteer Fire Department Chief says it was lucky the resident of an apartment was home at the time of a call for a possible fire over the noon hour.
A resident of an apartment complex located at 205 Rimbey Street in Murrayville called West Central Joint Dispatch at approximately 12:20 pm saying she thought she could smell something burning in her apartment but could not see any smoke or flames.
Murrayville Fire Chief Cody Kitselman says thankfully it was a small fire. “Dispatch called it out as a possible ceiling fire with no smoke or flames visible. When my guys got on scene the ceiling vent in the bathroom had really small flames coming out of the vent holes. They pulled the fan and part of the ceiling down and extinguished it real quick. Ameren was on scene to take care of the electrical.”
Crews were on scene for approximately one hour to verify the fire was out and that nothing had migrated over to another apartment.
Kitselman says they are glad the resident was home at the time, otherwise, if the fire had gone unchecked it could have easily turned into a large apartment fire like what occurred in South Jacksonville on Christmas Day last year.
Kitselman says structurally the apartment is safe however the bathroom will need some renovation work from opening the ceiling and water damage from putting out the fire.
The Woodson Fire Department and Murrayville/Woodson EMS also responded to the scene as mutual aid.