By Blake Haas
NORMAL – Overnight fire ruined a detached garage full of vintage vehicles, motorcycles, and a work shop.
Normal Fire Department received the call before 3 a.m. Thursday of a garage fire at 1212 Wall St.
“We got on scene and reported that it was a fully detached garage and it was fully engulfed,” said said Fire Battalion Chief Ed Collins.
Firefighters cut the overhead garage doors off and attacked the fire from multiple angles. An additional engine company was placed on Market Street to the north and pulled hose lines between houses to protect them from the radiant heat from the fire.
“We didn’t believe that anyone was in danger at this time. We were basically not going to do any kind of interior attack on it because of the amount of fire that was present when we arrived,” said Collins. “Right now we are still investigating the cause of the fire, but we hope to have some information a little bit later on this week.”
The fire knocked down power lines and destroyed the fence on the north side of the property according to a news release. Ameren was at the scene this morning repairing the downed power lines. The residence is approximately 30 feet from the garage and was not damaged by the fire.
NFD says an adjacent storage shed sustained only minor damage from radiant heat.
There were no injuries, and no one was inside the garage at the time of the fire.
NFD are still investigating the fire, but have not estimated the amount of damage. The garage and its contents are a total loss. The property is insured.
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
