A fire displaced a single resident who was in the process of moving into a home in the 100 block of West Kennedy early Friday morning.
A neighbor called 9-1-1 reporting smoke from the house next door and firefighters confirmed smoke in the area as they responded. Firefighters had to force open a security door and the front door to gain access to the house. They performed a quick search of the home to ensure no one was inside and found the fire in the kitchen area.
They began extinguishing the flames but also could see flames above them with the help of a thermal imaging camera. The ladder crew went to the roof to extinguish the flames in the attic area and cut through the roof to do so.
After cutting through the roof, they discovered another roof/ceiling about 4 feet below which they could not access. They immediately relayed this to the interior crews.
The interior crews then pulled down ceiling from below and were able to extinguish any remaining flames. Nine units consisting of 23 firefighters responded to the scene and controlled the fire 14 minutes after arriving.
There were no injuries reported by firefighters. Investigators determined that the fire started in the kitchen ceiling due to an unspecified electrical malfunction. Building Safety/Code Enforcement determined that the house would be untenable and the resident was displaced.
The resident was in the process of moving in, thankfully she did not have many possessions inside the home and the fire damage was contained to the kitchen area and void space above.