UPDATE: Wednesday Morning Fire Destroys Home Southeast of Effingham

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Published on November 12 2014 5:17 am
Written by Wayne Moran

Fire destroyed a home Wednesday morning southeast of Effingham, just off Funkhouser Road.

The home, owned by Nellie Stewart and occupied by Bob Jones and James and Kendra Davis, was fully involved when firefighters arrived at the scene. Watson Fire Chief Matt Kulesza said they got the call at 6:55am Wednesday morning, to the home located at 9514 East 925th Street, about 4 miles south on the Funkhouser Road from Route 40.

When fire crews arrived, half of the small, 1,000 square-foot home had already begun to collapse. Kulesza called a Full Still, drawing mutual aid from Effingham, Dieterich and the rest of Shumway's crew. The automatic aid system had already drawn some resources from Shumway's department.

The cause of the fire was ruled to be electrical. Kulesza tells us that as they investigated the scene, they discovered a toaster oven and circular fan wired together in a bedroom. Firefighters suspected the toaster oven and fan were being used to heat the room, a theory that was proven when police located the Davises Wednesday morning. The brother and sister pair told officials when they woke Wednesday morning, fire was already crackling inside a wall from the fire. With both of their cell phones dead, they went to a neighbors home to call 911, then got a ride into Effingham for a court hearing. The Davises confirmed to officials that the toaster oven and fan were being used as a heat source. Kulesza said the fan and oven shorted out due to the low-gauge wiring and due to two items being electrically spliced together, something Kulesza warned is extremely dangerous.

The Davises also had two dogs in a shed on the property. Both were unharmed.

The fire was initially thought to be caused possibly by a wood stove that was known to be in the home. According to the tenants, the stove had burned through the floor previously and had been removed from the home. With that, we talked briefly with Kulesza about the dangers wood stoves and kerosene heaters can pose.