The Fairbury Fire Department dealt with a large volume of calls in a fairly short amount of time Saturday afternoon following severe storms which moved through the area.
A house fire at 6506 North 2300 East Road, southeast of Fairbury, was reported around 4 p.m. by a passerby as the occupants were not home at the time, according to Fairbury assistant fire chief Josh Hoselton.
Firefighters discovered a working basement fire in the residence upon arrival. The blaze was brought under control around 5 p.m. while emergency personnel remained on the scene until 7:30 p.m. to complete the fire investigation.
“It was extinguished pretty quickly,” said Hoselton.
A lightning strike from the storm is listed as a possible cause for the fire and the home is uninhabitable at this time. In addition to Fairbury, responding fire departments came from Forrest-Strawn, Pontiac, Chenoa and Cropsey while Saunemin covered the Fairbury district while the call was happening. SELCAS personnel also responded.
Multiple calls of downed power lines and tree limbs were received by the Fairbury Fire Department after the storm blew through town in the 2 p.m. hour. Wind damage was visible throughout the city.
“We ran about seven different calls for service as far as power lines,” noted Hoselton.
One of the last calls firefighters responded to dealt with the main power service coming into Fairbury on east Locust Street.
“There was a pretty serious issue down there until the power company got on scene, able to remotely shut off the power to the portion of town that feeds.”
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