By Vicky Wedig
Editor
Seven family members escaped a fire that started on the deck of their Geneva Street home at about midnight Saturday.
Resident Roy K. Durham, 36, noticed flames on the deck of the home at 412 E. Geneva St. and dialed 911 as he began carrying five of his girlfriend’s children out of the home, said Delavan police and fire Chief Tim O’Neill. Amber L. Kroncke, 31, and five of her six children ranging in age from 2 to 11 were home at the time of the fire but were able to get out before the fire spread to the interior.
O’Neill said the fire started on the deck from careless use of smoking materials. He said smoke detectors had not gone off yet when Durham, who was awake, noticed the fire and called for help.
Police arrived within a minute of the 12:02 a.m. 911 call and confirmed all of the occupants had evacuated the single-family home, O’Neill said. At that time, the deck and exterior rear wall of the home were on fire. By the time firefighters arrived three minutes after the 911 call, the fire had spread to the roof and walls of the home and smoke detectors had activated, O’Neill said.
Paramedics checked the residents and no treatment was required, he said. The family initially sought shelter at a relative’s home about a block away, but the department called the American Red Cross to provide temporary housing for them, O’Neill said.
The deck of the rental home was destroyed, and the fire caused moderate damage to the rear roof and wall of the home. Though flames were visible from blocks away, the house is repairable, O’Neill said.
“The house is in fairly good shape,” he said.
