Fire spreads from garage to 2 other homes in St. Joseph
ST. JOSEPH – A fire that started in a garage spread to an adjacent home and a second home in St. Joseph on Sunday, causing more than $150,000 in damage.
St. Joseph-Stanton Fire Chief Russell Chism said firefighters were called to a garage fire in the 100 block of East Douglas Street at 3:18 p.m.
St. Joseph-Stanton firefighters were joined by firefighters from Sidney, Ogden-Royal and Homer.
When firefighters arrived six minutes later, Chism said, the two-car garage was fully immersed in flames, with some of them moving to an adjacent house.
"We saw a lot of flames and smoke," Chism said.
Two men inside the house escaped unharmed, Chism said. While some firefighters worked on extinguishing the garage fire, others used water to put out the house fire.
"By that time, the house was fully involved with fire," Chism said. "It was difficult to put it out because there were a lot of hidden spaces and remodeling additions to the house."
Before the firefighters could put out that blaze, some of the flames spread to a neighbor's house at 206 First St. A woman living there was not injured, Chism said.
Firefighters had the fire under control within less than 30 minutes, Chism said.
Chism estimated damage to the first house and garage at between $150,000 and $180,000. He estimated damage to the second house at $10,000.
Chism said an investigation team from Champaign County Fire Chiefs/MABAS (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System) Division 28 was investigating the cause of the fire, but he said it appeared to be accidental.
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