2 West Side Families Without Home After Fire Sweeps Through St. Pat's Neighborhood House

JOLIET, IL — Two families who shared a home in the 400 block of Marion Street, which is part of Joliet's older St. Pat's Area, find themselves without a place to live following Monday night's blaze on Joliet's near west side.

Joliet Fire Department Battalion chief Paul Yanak informed Joliet Patch that the structure fire happened at 7:58 p.m. at 435 Marion St. Company 5 arrived and saw light smoke showing from the front of the building. Once inside, firefighters found a fire burning in the ceiling over the kitchen.

Additional units arrived and started pulling the ceiling down to expose the fire burning in the ceiling. Crews were able to quickly knock down the main body of fire, according to the battalion chief.

The first fire apparatus that arrived on the scene encountered frozen hydrants in the area. Crews were sent to the roof to check for fire extension. After the main body of fire was extinguished, the companies remained on the scene removing smoke from inside the structure. No injuries were reported from this incident. The Red Cross was notified to provide shelter for two displaced families from this incident, Yanak pointed out.

The initial crews remained on the scene for about one hour. Fire crews from stations 1, 5, 6, and 8 responded to the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation.