Fire Damages Home in South Part of County Early Monday Morning

Fire damaged a house in the south part of Effingham County early Monday morning.

Watson Fire Protection District firefighters were dispatched at 2:16am to Troy Verdeyen's residence at 2705 North US Route 45, just south of the Mason-Eberle Road.

Verdeyen told firefighters he fell asleep while cooking and woke up to the house on fire. First-arriving firefighters reported heavy fire throughout the structure. Approximately half of the single-story residence was heavily involved in fire when Watson firefighters reached the scene. Crews knocked down a large amount of the heaviest fire from the exterior, before transitioning to the interior to extinguish the fire, which was marked under control at 3:13am.

Crews continued to locate and extinguish hot spots and smoldering areas for another 90 minutes after the fire was brought under control. Efforts were hampered when a large portion of the roof collapsed into the residence from the heavy fire conditions.

In addition to Watson, Shumway and Effingham firefighters, mutual aid was also received from Dieterich Fire Protection District and from Edgewood Bi-County Fire Protection District, both responding with tenders to provide water to fight the fire.

Verdeyen, who was the sole occupant of the residence, was able to exit the residence, but was suffering from smoke inhalation from trying to retrieve pets from the structure. Abbott EMS transported Verdeyen from the scene to HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital in Effingham for further treatment.

The residence is located in "No Man's Land", meaning there is no assigned fire protection district for the property.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal was contacted and an investigator arrived on scene to investigate the fire. At this time, the cause of the fire is undetermined but is believed to have originated in the kitchen. At this time, there is no esimate of the damage to residence or contents, but both will considered a total loss. 

AmerenIllinois and EJ Water Cooperative also assisted at the scene.