Southside garage in alley considered ‘total loss’ after early Tuesday morning fire

QUINCY — The Quincy Fire Department has determined a garage at 620 S. 14th damaged by fire early Tuesday morning is a “total loss.”

The Quincy Fire Department was dispatched to a garage fire at 12:46 a.m. Tuesday in the alley between 13th and 14th streets, running from Payson Avenue to Ohio. The first crew arrived on the scene at 12:50 a.m. and observed the interior of the garage — 12 feet by 23 feet with a wood frame construction — was fully involved with fire. They deployed a hose line and began extinguishing the fire from outside the garage.

The second fire truck and assistant chief arrived one minute later and deployed a second hose line to assist this effort. A third fire truck arrived and established a water supply by connecting a supply hose to the first fire truck from a nearby fire hydrant. The main body of fire was quickly extinguished, but it took 30 minutes to search for and extinguish all remaining embers or “hot spots.”

The interior of the garage was gutted, and all contents were destroyed by fire. An adjacent storage shed sustained heat damage in the form of melted siding, and an adjacent side-by-side sustained heat damage.

The cause of the fire is considered undetermined pending further investigation. Not all residents were available for interviews at the time of the fire. The last fire suppression crews left the scene at 3:16 a.m.

Adams County Ambulance Service was on the scene in case they were needed. No civilians or firefighters were injured at the scene.

Ten firefighters were on the scene from two engines, along with a quint and the assistant chief.