Unattended candle determined to be cause of late Wednesday house fire at 301 Elm

QUINCY — An unattended candle led to a house fire late Wednesday night at 301 Elm.

The Quincy Fire Department was alerted at 10:34 p.m. Wednesday, March 12 to a house fire at 301 Elm. It was reported that no one was in the house. The first crew arrived on the scene at 10:36 p.m. and observed heavy flames coming from the west side door and adjacent window. 

Firefighters deployed a hose line as the second truck and incident commander arrived on the scene. The first crew entered the house and worked to extinguish the large body of fire in the first-floor front room. The third truck arrived and connected a supply hose from the nearby fire hydrant to the first fire truck. A second alarm was called at 10:47 p.m., bringing the two remaining trucks with all on-duty personnel to the scene and calling in off-duty personnel to man two reserve trucks.

The other crews arrived and assisted with fire ground operations. Crews verified there were no remaining “hot spots.” Fire investigators arrived and learned that the owner was outside when she heard the beeping of a smoke detector and saw fire through the front door. 

The cause of the fire is labeled as accidental because of candles burning throughout the front room. The last fire suppression crew left the scene at 1:14 a.m. The fire investigation team left the scene at 1:26 a.m. 

The Quincy Police Department shut down Third Street to protect crews. The Adams County Ambulance Service was on the scene in case it was needed. The QFD Volunteer Rehab Team also responded to assist firefighters recover during their breaks in operations. No civilians or firefighters were injured at the scene. 

About half of the first floor sustained fire damage and water damage. The rest of the house sustained heavy smoke damage. 

Nineteen firefighters were on the scene from four engines, a quint, the assistant chief, one deputy chief and two fire investigators.