Fire damages Normal home, injures 3 residents

Posted on September 13, 2018
fire
Fire crews rotated for about an hour while extinguishing hot spots and ventilating smoke from the home. (Pixabay)

By Greg Halbleib

NORMAL – A fire in a basement of a home in Normal injured three of the four occupants Thursday morning.

The Normal Fire Department responded to the call before 8 a.m. on Normal Avenue. The three residents were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of minor injuries and smoke inhalation.

Firefighters rescued two kittens and treated them for smoke inhalation with pet oxygen masks.

Investigators say the fire started in a basement bedroom and was accidental. The basement was heavily damaged by fire, smoke and water with smoke damage reported through the remainder of the home. No damage estimate was available.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected]. 

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…