Fairfield house called ‘total loss’ after fire

FAIRFIELD – A fire badly damaged a home in Fairfield Saturday afternoon that required mutual aid from two neighboring fire departments.

The home at 908 E. Jefferson Ave. is considered a total loss after a fire started in its basement and burned through to the main story. Fairfield Fire Chief Scott Vaughan said there were no injuries, and no one was home at the time of the fire.

The home is a rental property owned by Bo Luo and Frazier Jones. Its tenants are Crystal Walterman and Morgan Randolph. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

At 2:50 p.m. that day, the Fairfield Fire Department received a call of a house fire on Jefferson Street. Upon arrival, firefighters saw flames shooting out of the basement and coming up the back side of the house. Vaughan said the firefighters sprayed the home with water cannons and sent a team to go through the front door. However, the fire was too hot, so first the firefighters climbed onto the roof and made gaping holes for the smoke and heat to escape. It's a tactic the department had a chance to practice during a controlled burn of a house in Fairfield just last year. Vaughan said it not only helps cool the house, but by allowing the smoke to escape, allows the firefighters to see inside.

Libertyville and Lockridge fire departments were called for mutual assist. In all, about 20-25 firefighters helped put out the blaze. Vaughan said the firefighters from the two neighboring departments were a big help because they provided backup to the two firefighters spraying the basement, the two entering through the front, and the two opening the holes on the roof.

Vaughan said it was a hot day, and that makes it especially important for the firefighters to have backup in order to take a break. The department has a rule that if a firefighter goes through two bottles of oxygen, they've got to go through a medical check-up to make sure they're not suffering from exhaustion or overheating. Vaughan added that Midwest Ambulance and the Fairfield Fire Department were helpful in responding to the fire.