Smoking materials on balcony may have caused it, officials say
By Heather Ruenz
Staff Writer
A fire at a multi-unit apartment building in Delavan last week resulted in only one resident being treated on the scene thanks to evacuation of residents by police. Furthermore, the efficient response by firefighters led to the blaze being knocked down quickly despite how fast it had spread.
The call came in at about 9:30 a.m., June 24, when a resident of the Sunset Meadows apartment complex in the City of Delavan reported seeing heavy smoke and flames in the 16-unit apartment building at 714 Faryl Ave.
Delavan Police and Fire crews arrived at 9:30 a.m. and could see a large area of flames at a second story apartment and attic area directly above it.
“(That) area of the roof was fully ablaze and the roof had already been destroyed by the fire,” Fire Chief Tim O’Neill said.
Delavan Police officers are credited with evacuating more than 40 residents from the building that was on fire.
Crews from Delavan provided the initial attack of the fire, which had extended into most of the attic in the affected area of the building. More than 35 personnel from those two departments assisted at the fire but others were called for mutual aid.
A MABAS box alarm was transmitted, which brought an additional eight fire departments to the scene… and provided an additional 45 personnel,” O’Neill said.
MABAS, the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, is used for deploying fire, rescue and emergency medical services personnel in a multi-jurisdictional response.
In addition to providing assistance at the scenes of fires and other large-scale emergencies, MABAS also provides station coverage when a community’s fire and EMS resources are committed to an incident for an extended amount of time.
O’Neill said crews were on scene for several hours.
“The fire itself was knocked down in minutes, however, fire departments remained on the scene for a period of four hours extinguishing hot spots,” he said.
According to O’Neill, Delavan fire officials are working closely with insurance investigators to determine the exact cause of the fire but believe they may have found the culprit.
“Initial reports point to smoking materials on a balcony,” he said.
One resident was treated by EMS on the scene and released, O’Neill said. No other injuries were reported.
