Jefferson Rural Firemen say the cause of a fire that burned one room of an older home used for storage remains undetermined. A passerby spotted smoke coming out from under the eves of the home owned by Mark Barchzewski on Illinois Route 15 near North Blackhawk Drive west of Mt. Vernon. Firemen were able to confine the fire to one room, but there was considerable smoke damage to the rest of the home. It never broke through the roof. The fire call came in at 1:55 Saturday afternoon with firemen on the scene until 3:30 pm.
Jefferson Rural Firemen also fought two grass and field fires. A fire on the David Beal property on East Meadows Road in rural Dix burned about two acres. Less than an acre of ground burned in a second fire on the Derrick Bennett property on North Toll Lane northeast of Mt. Vernon. No buildings were threatened in either fire.
