Tuesday Morning Fire Damages Home in Teutopolis

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Published on November 27 2012 10:14 am
Last Updated on July 14 2013 12:07 pm
Written by Wayne Moran

A Teutopolis couple is thankful to have escaped injury, and grateful for the quick response of area firefighters that helped minimize the damage to their home.

The Tuesday morning fire started in the kitchen of Jerry and Marianne Zerrusen's home, with something that was cooking on the stove, and spread quickly. When firefighters arrived after receiving the call at 8:17am, smoke was pouring from the home's eaves, and holes were cut in the roof to attack the fire from that angle. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire by 8:40am.

The Zerrusens escaped injury in the fire. As far as damage to the home, Teutopolis Fire Chief Tim McMahon and Assistant Chief Steve Westjohn told us, the kitchen was "pretty much destroyed", with the rest of the home suffering smoke damage. No estimate of the cost of the damage was immediately available.

Homeowner Jerry Zerrusen told us, "we're very fortunate, the fire department got here very quickly, took good control, and got everything stabilized in a very short time. So, considering all that, we feel pretty fortunate."

Teutopolis, Effingham and Montrose fire departments were on scene, with Dieterich and Sigel departments covering the Teutopolis and Montrose stations.