Vacant Joliet House Up In Flames: Battalion Chief

JOLIET — Every so often, the Joliet Fire Department finds itself responding to a fully engulfed fire at an abandoned house. That scenario happened late Sunday night in the 500 block of Joliet's Strong Avenue.

According to battalion chief Victor Stachelski, at 11:49 p.m., the Joliet Fire Department responded to 505 Strong Avenue for a structure fire. The first units arrived within four minutes of the call and were met with heavy fire coming from every window of a story and a half, wood framed home.

Fire crews deployed multiple hose lines and started with a defensive style attack from the outside of the structure. It took approximately 15 minutes for fire crews to gain control of the fire.

After gaining control, the Joliet firefighters went inside to extinguish the fire and search for possible victims. No one was in the structure at the time of the fire.

Joliet police spoke with the owner, who stated the house was vacant. Fire crews from stations 1, 3, 4, 6 and 8 responded to the scene. There were no injuries reported. The fire is currently under investigation by the Joliet Fire Department Fire Investigations Unit.