Details on Weekend Fire on Northeast Side

Effingham and area firefighters were called out overnight Saturday night and Sunday morning to a fire in a house on the city's northeast side.

Firefighters were dispatched at 11:30pm Saturday to the home of John and Ingrid Kay in the 2000 block of Steger Avenue after the homeowner was alerted when her fire alarm was activated. The fire alarm was dispatched as a basement detector in multiple rooms. The first arriving units reported nothing showing from the front of the house. Crews made entry and nothing was showing on the main level. Crews proceeded to the basement and found a light haze of smoke. Crews then called for a full still alarm for a working structure fire. 

Teutopolis firefighters responded to the scene, while Shumway and Watson firefighters covered both Effingham stations. 

The crews inside made their way to the rear of the home to find all doors closed. After inspecting the area, they found heavy smoke and fire in a back room containing an endless river pool that was on fire.

Once the fire was extinguished, crews used exhaust fans to move remaining smoke out of the house. During an investigation into how the fire started, it was determined that the control panel for the pool had shorted out and caught the exterior wood framework on fire. The heavy dense smoke was generated by the plastic plumbing lines and the plastic coverings on the pool.

No one was injured. The homeowner was allowed to remain in the house on the main floor and crews cordoned the basement off.

Firefighters cleared the scene at 1:18am Sunday.

Effingham Assistant Fire Chief Matt Kulesza advised to "remember to keep your doors shut in all rooms. That safety precaution is what saved the remaining rooms and the house in this incident. Always, remember to maintain alarm systems and smoke detectors. These are life-saving products when you maintain them correctly."