VIDEO: Fire Destroys House in Funkhouser

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Published on March 25 2016 4:49 pm
Last Updated on March 28 2016 8:38 am
Written by Greg Sapp

Fire destroyed a house in Funkhouser Friday afternoon, but no one was injured.

Shumway firefighters were called out at 3pm to the home of Josh Colwell and Valerie King at 9724 East US 40. Valerie and some of the six children living there were at home at the time of the fire. Valerie King told our Greg Sapp at the scene, "Grace (one of the children) came out of the bedroom saying 'the house is on fire' and I got the kids and the dog out of the house". She said the bedroom is in the central part of the home.

The fire quickly spread throughout the single-story frame structure, located along the north side of US 40 on the east edge of Funkhouser. When our team of Greg Sapp and Wayne Moran reached the scene within 10 minutes of the initial fire call, flames could be seen coming out of every window and most of the roof had burned off.

Shumway firefighters were joined by companies from Effingham, Sigel, Tri-County, Watson and Stewardson.

In addition to the home, all of the contents were destroyed, including a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, Josh's classic car, that was parked in the garage. Colwell said he's lived in the house for almost 10 years.

Fire officials said late Friday evening that the cause of the fire could not be determined, but was likely electrical in nature and is still under investigation.

US Route 40 through Funkhouser was closed for more than three hours.