Fire Damages Funkhouser Area Home

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Published on December 17 2012 11:16 am
Last Updated on July 14 2013 12:07 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

Fire did significant damage to a home in the Funkhouser area early Sunday morning.

Shumway firefighters were dispatched at 1am to a home owned by Larry Buening at 12279 N. 970th Street.  911 received a number of calls regarding the fire from neighbors.  Some other neighbors went to the home occupied by Danny and Joellen Bryan and beat on the door of the house to wake anyone who might have been inside.  Later Sunday morning, the Bryans were located in Effingham and had not been at home at the time of the fire.

Firefighters reported a well-involved single-story home with heavy fire visible from the roof.  A full-still alarm was requested and brought additional apparatus and personnel from Watson, Beecher City and Effingham.

Shumway Fire Chief Joe Kemme said, "Due to the heavy fireload, firefighters had to do a quick search and back out.  The roof started to cave in, making it impossible for firefighters to conduct a search."

The fire was brought under control at 1:34am but crews remained on scene for another two hours checking the home for hot spots and removing smoldering debris.  Investigators from Shumway Fire Protection District and the Illlinois State Fire Marshal's Office are trying to determine the cause of the fire. 

Altamont and Stewardson firefighters covered Shumway's fire station in case of another fire while Shumway firefighters were at the fire scene.