Electrical arcing leads to house fire

QUINCY – Just before 6 p.m. Friday, the Quincy Fire Department responded to a call at 425 N. 14th Street with a reported fire in the basement.

As crews arrived on the scene, it was reported that all occupants were out of the house and there was heavy electrical arcing on the exterior of the house at the main electrical cable running from the meter into the basement of the house. The QFD Incident Commander then called for Ameren to respond.

Other members of the first-arriving crews made entry into the basement and discovered no smoke or fire. A thorough search revealed no structural involvement and damage was limited to the exterior electrical cable. There was no actual damage to the house itself, apart from the main electrical cable.

A hose was deployed as a precaution but not used. The exterior arcing was monitored and subsided
within five minutes. The main cable eventually burned through and, while there was no longer power to
the house, remained electrically charged while attached to the brick. Ameren arrived and removed the
meter, killing power to the damaged cable. Subsequent arriving units were released from the scene.

The cause of the electrical arcing is unknown. An electrical engineer would need to make that
determination. The last fire crew left the scene around 6:45 p.m. The occupants were displaced due to lack of electricity in the home.

No civilians or firefighters were injured at the scene.