Belleville home saved from total loss in fire. Firefighter was treated at hospital.
Shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday, Belleville firemen were dispatched to the 200 block of Wabash Avenue to investigate a burning structure fire.
No one was at home at the time of the blaze, Belleville Fire Chief Tom Pour said. One fireman had to be taken to the hospital for medical treatment, but was later released, Pour said.
“It was a lot of work. We’re fortunate it was minor,” he said.
Fire crews arrived on scene within two minutes of the initial call. The back of the house was already fully engulfed in flame, Pour said. The basement also was on fire, but Pour said firemen didn’t know it at that time.
“Fire went up walls and into the attic,” Pour said. “It’ s a balloon frame house. Studs from the basement to the attic are completely open.”
There are no fire stops between the floors to keep the fire from spreading, Pour said. Northwest, East Side, Signal Hill and Swansea fire departments were put on standby for mutual assistance.
“We went to two-alarm to bring in two additional shifts. We put neighboring fire departments on call, but we didn’t have to run any calls,” Pour said.
At 7:30 p.m, Pour said other department were let go to run their normal routines.
Pour said two additional Belleville trucks were brought in when the standby crews were allowed to resume their normal routines.
The fire was brought under control in about an hour, Pour said. It left behind damage in part of basement, the garage, kitchen and an upstairs bedroom. The house has significant water and smoke damage, but, Pour said most of the homeowner’s personal possessions were saved.
“The hard part was fire was on every floor. It took a lot of personnel,” Pour said. “Fire was in the attic. We had to pull the ceiling down and open walls. It was a lot of work. We rotated crews in and out to keep the fire from spreading. We also had to knock down fire in the basement.”
He credits the quick response from the fire department and the amount of available manpower for preventing a total loss of the home.
“Being able to put 15 people on scene within a couple of minutes was key,” Pour said. “The guys did an awesome job,” he said.
In total, Pour said there were close to 40 firefighters on scene.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but pour said it is believed to be accidental.
