UPDATE – PEORIA, Ill. -Four people escaped a Peoria house fire, but one of them was injured seriously.
Firefighters arrived at 1900 N. Dechman Ave. at 9:39 a.m. Sunday to see fire coming from a second floor front window.
The structure also appeared to have been vacant since there were boarded up windows on the first floor.
“We did witness a person running out the back (of the house),” Strum said. “Turns out this building was not vacant. There were four people inside. Everyone has gotten out.”
Strum said, however, one occupant was treated by paramedics and transported to a local hospital emergency room with, what he called, “serious fire exposure injuries.”
Strum said firefighters had some initial difficulty putting out the fire.
“It sounds like the front bedroom had plywood that was blocking the doorway,” Strum said. “We made an exterior attack and pulled the companies back down to the first floor, got that knocked down and then we re-entered.”
One firefighter reported a minor hand injury that did not require medical treatment, according to Strum.
Strum said the fire was contained to the floor of origin. The second floor and roof suffered major fire damage and the first floor suffered water damage.
A Peoria fire investigator was called to scene to help determine the cause of the fire. The investigation is continuing.
Strum said a city building inspector was called to the scene and called for an emergency demolition of the building.
The Red Cross was requested to provide housing and clothing for the occupants who were displaced by the fire.
