Burlington, IA- The Burlington Fire department on Friday, January 7th responded to two different house fires in the city.
At 8 AM Friday, the Burlington Fire Department responded to a reported fire at 1428 Cleveland avenue, arriving six minutes later and finding a smoldering fire in the upstairs of the residence. Residents had made attempts to extinguish the fire using a garden hose.
The fire was started in the upstairs of the residence due to embers from a coal-burning fireplace igniting nearby objects. The homeowner was not there at the time, and the two other occupants were able to escape without injury.
Later, at 8:19 AM, BFD responded to a report of smoke coming from the roof at 1705 Olive Street in Burlington.
Firefighters, responding from another fire scene, arrived at 8:21 to find a small fire in the attic of the single-family rental home. One female was inside and not aware of the fire until alerted by neighbors.
The fire was caused by overloaded electrical wiring due to the use of a space heater and is considered accidental.
The rental home is owned by Betty Weinreich of Lomax, IL, and occupied by Dawn Bennick. Damage is estimated at $5,000 to the structure and $1,000 to contents and the house is insured.
There were no working smoke detectors in the house.