PEORIA, Ill. — Two firefighters are being treated for injuries and several properties in South Peoria have likely suffered significant damage from fires and first response reported during the late evening hours on Monday.
Local fire investigators are also now treating the case as an arson investigation.
According to a post on the Peoria Fire Department Facebook page, as of just before 9 p.m., local firefighters were asking motorists to avoid two specific areas in the 1600 block of W. Lincoln Ave. and in the 1500 block of S Easton Ave.
The two locations are roughly half a mile apart and perhaps a dozen or so blocks distant from one another.
Initial details indicated there were as many as “three working structure fires” at that time.
The release also mentioned the structures were “heavily involved with exposures”. Peoria Fire officials say they requested backfill staffing assistance from East Peoria Fire as the response continued into the late night hours.
Peoria Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger confirms one occupied home on S Easton will need to be demolished as a result of the fires.
Sollberger tells WMBD News one firefighter fell through hole in one of the structures, injuring their leg while another firefighter left the scene with a significant injury to their hand.
There were no injuries reported among any occupants.
An investigator determined the cause of the fire on W. Lincoln was intentional. The cause of the other fires remain under investigation.
Investigations are ongoing and demolition crews were on-scene late Monday night.
