PEORIA, Ill. — Peoria Firefighters were called to a home that caught fire late Wednesday night in the North Valley Neighborhood.
Fire Battalion Chief Steve Rada said the call came in at 11:15 p.m. from the 700 block of N.E. Madison Avenue, in the area of St. Mary’s Cathedral and the Friendship House.
“The house was what we consider vacant, but it was boarded up extremely well and fortified. So, we had a bit of a delay to try to get everything off the outside,” Rada said.
Crews found heavy smoke coming from a three story house upon arrival. A majority of the fire was found in the cellar basement.
As crews were working in the basement, heavy fire ignited on the first floor.
“The first floor at that time, in the kitchen particularly, basically all the objects in the room all of the sudden combusted. We had to pull crews out for safety purposes,” Rada said.
Rada said once the bulk of the fire was extinguished, crews went back inside and found additional fire in the basement and the first floor, which they were able to put out.
Clutter inside the vacant home created challenges for firefighters, Rada said.
Several crews were called to the scene due to the amount of fire and the size of the home.
Once the fire was contained, the home was searched with no one found inside.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Damage was estimated is $100,000.
Due to safety concerns, the home was demolished.
