Fire Destroys Home in Neoga

Fire has destroyed a home in Neoga.

Firefighters were called at 2:40am Sunday after the resident at 7th and Maple went to a neighbor's house suffering from medical issues. The resident asked the neighbor to summon an ambulance and also mentioned they smelled smoke and thought their house might be on fire. The roof of the house burst into flame a short time later.

The other two occupants of the house escaped unharmed.

Neoga firefighters called Sigel firefighters as they have an automatic mutual aid agreement. Firefighters from the Wabash and Toledo departments were also summoned, and the Toledo Ambulance Service was called to the scene after the Neoga ambulance service took the ailing individual for treatment. Mattoon firefighters were also called to the scene to utilize their aerial unit for pouring water onto the fire in the large old structure that included two floors and an attic. At one point, 31 firefighters were on scene. No one was injured.

The house is a total loss. Jeff Pride of the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office inspected the scene. Pride said the fire was not suspicious, but could not determine what caused the fire, which began in the attic.

Firefighters were on scene for several hours; Neoga firefighters were back in the station by 8am.