Large crew responds to fire call at Imperial home

    Fire Chief Doug Mitchell believes the timing of Friday afternoon’s fire call to a home at the corner of 14th and Court Streets was a game changer.
    If the 4 p.m. call had come during the night, it could have been a much different, and serious, situation, he said.
    The call was dispatched as a possible basement fire when the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department (IVFD) responded, but Mitchell said it actually started outside the west side of the home. It burned an estimated four by six-foot piece of vinyl siding on the west.
    Joyce Pankonin, who owns the rental home occupied by Hallie Moore, said there was no interior damage, and she expects insurance adjusters to review the property in the coming days.
    Mitchell said they used the department’s large fan to remove some of the smoke after it was confirmed there was no fire inside. Members of the department were sent inside, packed up with a water line. Utilities were also shut off during their time on the scene, he said.
    As of early this week, Mitchell said cause of the fire was undetermined.
    Twenty-two IVFD members responded to the call, a very good turnout for a Friday afternoon, Mitchell said.
    When the call came in Friday, firefighters had just returned from the FVC elevator in Enders, where a passerby had reported seeing smoke coming from the elevator.
    Mitchell said after examination inside, and using the IVFD’s thermal camera, it was determined there was no fire.
    The fire chief said it was likely just grain dust that had blown through the vents when the wind was just right.
    There was a second page issued as they were en route to Enders, Mitchell noted, because officers at the time didn’t know what they would be facing there.
    Afterwards, as they were pulling the IVFD rigs into the barn, the call to 14th and Court  was received, he said.