News Reports

Fire destroys house in Wood River

JOHN KRUPA, The Telegraph 09/23/2005

The Telegraph/JOHN BADMAN Wood River firefighters man a hose line at the rear of a house in the 900 block of Lorena Avenue in Wood River early Thursday morning after a fire, which apparently started in a laundry room, spread to the attic spaces of the house.

WOOD RIVER -- A devastating house fire Thursday morning could have been contained if not for a delay caused by the house’s structural oddities, a Wood River Fire Department official said.

Capt. Brendan McKee said the four-bedroom house at 964 Lorena Ave. had three layers of roofing piled one atop the other because of a series of additions.

The fire -- which apparently began in the laundry room -- had time to spread through the entire house’s ceiling as firefighters struggled to get to it through the three levels of roofing.

Under normal circumstances, McKee said his crew could have knocked down the fire in 30 minutes and saved the house.

Because of the house’s unique challenges, it took nearly two hours to quell the flames, and the house was destroyed.

"The construction of the house hampered our efforts," McKee said. "If it had had typical building construction, it’s a one-room fire."

Now a young couple with two baby daughters is left with nothing.

"The inside is gutted completely," said homeowner Richard Peck, a salesman at a car dealership in Alton. "I’ve gone back in, and there’s nothing left. Our pictures are there, and we’ll probably grab those, but that’s it."

Peck said the fire started at 6:30 a.m., just after he threw some wet clothes in the dryer.

He left the laundry room to draw a bath but was interrupted five minutes later by the sound of the smoke alarm.

Peck raced back to the laundry room and found it in flames.

He and his wife, Rebecca, quickly grabbed their children and pet dog and raced outside.

"We got their two favorite items out," a visibly distraught Rebecca Peck said, "a blanket for my youngest and a (toy) school bus for my oldest."

Relatives soon arrived to take the children away.

Rebecca Peck’s sister, Amy Duke of East Alton, said the fire frightened the 3-year-old.

"She knew what was going on, and the only way I could get her to calm down was say, ‘Let’s go eat some French toast sticks,’" Duke said with a laugh.

While fire officials could not provide a damage estimate, they confirmed that the fire destroyed most of the house and its contents.

Although it was the couple’s first house -- and they had only lived there for six months -- they had a number of valuable items inside, including a big-screen television, computer, guitars and a valuable collection of autographs.

The couple does have homeowners insurance, and their provider plans to house them temporarily in a hotel.

Building codes now make it difficult for contractors to cut costs by building roof atop roof.

In this case, the additions left about a foot of space between each layer, McKee said, and the fire ran freely through each area.

Firefighters, including some from Roxana and East Alton following an automatic mutual aide call, used chainsaws to cut their way through the roofing.

"It was highly unusual," McKee said. "You just don’t have fires like this every day."