Thursday, December 13th, 2018
Fire engulfs abandoned home near Rockford
By Tom Stankard
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
Rockford Fire Department personnel respond to a fully engulfed house fire at 1759 Rockford West Road late Wednesday afternoon in Rockford. The owners of the 100-year-old building had planned to raze the structure since it was no longer needed.
ROCKFORD - A fire engulfing an Amish home west of Rockford on Wednesday evening turned out to be a controlled burn.
Rockford firefighters responded to a call reporting the blaze at about 5:10 p.m. Fire chief Rob Belna said he believed the Amish homeowner wanted to do away with the house at 1759 Rockford West Road, "so he just set it on fire."
An Amish person at the scene said the house was more than 100 years old and was in bad shape on the inside.
Instead of letting it burn, firefighters doused the flames. Belna said he didn't want to monitor the fire all night and the structure was close to other buildings.
At least 80 percent of the house was made of brick and old plaster, so not all of it would burn, Belna said.
