QFD responds to Sunday night house fire

QUINCY – Quincy firefighters responded to a house fire late Sunday night on the city’s north side.

Just before 11 p.m., Quincy Fire Department crews went to the 18th and Locust area as the exact address of the fire wasn’t immediately known. When they arrived, they found a structure fire on the backside of a bungalow-style two-story residential house at 1729 Locust.

Firefighters deployed a hose line as the second fire truck arrived and connected a supply hose from the nearby fire hydrant to the first fire truck. The third fire truck and Incident Commander arrived on scene as the first crew was working to extinguish the large body of fire at the rear of the structure from the outside.

A second alarm was then called that brought the two remaining trucks with all on-duty personnel to the scene. When the additional fire crews arrived, they assisted with fire ground operations. Five off-duty personnel were also called to man two reserve trucks. Ameren worked arrived to shut off the utilities.

The first crew made entry into the house to extinguish the fire there and a second hose line was deployed to continue extinguishing the fire on the exterior. A search of the house found no occupants inside and it was later reported the owner was not home at the time.

About a third of the rear of the house sustained fire damage and water damage. The rest of the main
floor sustained heat damage. The second floor and basement sustained heavy smoke damage. Fire crews worked to expose any hot spots until they were all extinguished just after 1 a.m. The fire investigation team left the scene at 3:00 a.m.

There were 17 firefighters on scene from four engines, a quint, the assistant chief and a deputy chief.

Quincy Police closed Locust between 17th and 18th and 17th and Adams County Ambulance Service paramedics were on scene to standby in case they were needed. The QFD Volunteer Rehab Team also responded to assist firefighters during their breaks.

No one was injured during the incident, which remains under investigation.