Residents safe after first fire of 2017
<p dir="ltr"><span>Two Chester residents safely escaped a house fire at 527 Buena Vista St. on Wednesday morning, the first blaze of the new year in the city.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Chester firefighters were called to the residence at 7:04 a.m. on the report of a smoke detector going off and a house filling with smoke.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>“We think it started in the basement,” said Chester Fire Chief Marty Bert.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The residents, Tom Durkee and his wife, made it out unharmed. Bert said that after being alerted to the fire, Durkee moved his truck out of the driveway and heard a nearby power line pop and fall to the ground.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Bert added that smoke and fire were coming out of the back of the house when firefighters arrived. He does not have a preliminary ruling on the cause of the blaze, but is leaning toward it being electrical in nature.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There is smoke damage to the entire structure, while the back half - which includes a porch and laundry room - is destroyed.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The incident was not without injury, however, as MedStar Ambulance treated one firefighter for a possible broken leg due to falling on the freezing water around the house.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Ellis Grove and Steeleville fire departments were also paged to the scene to help provide manpower.</span>