Editor’s note: Kathy Anderson submitted photo 6.
Photographer Steve Siefken submitted these photos of a Morrison, IL, house fire that occurred Sunday afternoon, June, 11, 2017. “The call came in around 2:00 p.m.,” he noted. “The family had been camping and were asleep,” Siefken noted. “I was told that the dog [likely a black lab] woke them up, and the house was already ablaze. [It was a] very hot day and fire for the firemen.”
Brent and his two sons were not at home; they were fishing. Angel Richmond and her daughter were napping after being in the sun. The dog woke the females. Brent drove home while the Fire Department crew was working on his rental home.
A Fire Department source noted “the call was logged at 1:50. The last truck left the scene at 4:16. Twelve-to-15 Morrison firefighters participated, with assistance from four-to-six men from the Fulton, IL, Department, which also sent an engine. Lyndon firefighters” stood in readiness at the Morrison building.
Morrison Chief Dave Benters passed the fire as he attempted to reach the station. He saw railroad crossing gates beginning to descend., so he returned to the burning house to make sure everyone was out of the building. The American Red Cross was already there, too., when firemen arrived. The ARC representative “showed up on his own.”
The home is owned by Randy Renkes. It is a total disaster.
