Firefighters respond to fourth fire in seven days in 2nd Ward; chief says none of the fires are related

QUINCY — Quincy firefighters responded to an apartment fire at 901 N. Ninth that displaced two families from their homes on Friday morning. 

The Quincy Fire Department was dispatched at 8:55 a.m. to the Frederick Ball apartment complex after it received a report of visible smoke and flames. Two trucks were on the scene.

Fire chief Bernie Vahlkamp said one adult and four children were in one apartment, and another apartment had one adult and three children. Each person escaped the facility safely before firefighters arrived on the scene. 

The fire was under control in about 10 to 15 minutes. The cause is under investigation. However, Vahlkamp said the fire appeared to be accidental.

The families in the two units damaged by fire were displaced. Vahlkamp said the Quincy Housing Authority was helping those families with temporary housing. Investigators were checking on three other apartments, but Vahlkamp thought the families in those units would likely return to them later in the day.

The Quincy Fire Department has responded to four structure fires since Saturday. Other fires were in an apartment building at 439 N. Eighth on Wednesday, a vacant building at 206 Chestnut on Tuesday and a residence at 613 Chestnut. Each fire was in the western half of Quincy’s 2nd Ward.

“There’s nothing that really connects any of the fires together,” Vahlkamp said. “(Friday’s fire) appears to have been purely accidental. The stories from the occupants of the house, they match up. There’s nothing that would indicate any of the four fires are related.”

Providing assistance at the scene were the Quincy Police Department, the Adams County Ambulance Service, the Quincy Fire Department’s rehab team, Quincy Transit Lines and Ameren Illinois. Helping families at the scene were the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross.