Thanksgiving Day Fire in Mattoon Displaces Six Residents: Firefighters Respond to Urgent Call

Share and Follow

In Mattoon, Illinois, a house fire on Thursday afternoon has left six people without a home. The Mattoon Fire Department swiftly responded to the incident.

According to a press release from Fire Chief Jeff Hilligoss, the department received a call about a potential structure fire on Thanksgiving at 4:52 p.m. Firefighters reached the 2600 block of Champaign Avenue just three minutes later, at 4:55 p.m., finding a single-family house engulfed in heavy smoke with flames visible from a side window.

Residents, who had already evacuated the home, met the fire crews in the front yard. They informed the firefighters that everyone was safe, but two cats remained inside. The fire team launched an aggressive interior attack using a hose-line, targeting the blaze primarily in the kitchen area.

Meanwhile, additional firefighters were deployed to cut a vent hole in the roof. The fire was brought under control approximately 20 minutes after their arrival.

Fire crews on scene then began overhauling the home to search for any hidden fire in the walls. A fire department investigator then began a cause and origin investigation. Chief Hilligoss said this fire is considered accidental in nature and believed to have started as a grease fire on the stove.

The home is considered uninhabitable, and the six residents have been assisted by Red Cross. The Mattoon Fire Department was assisted on scene by the following agencies: