House fire started in kitchen

By Marci Laehr Tenuta
Journal Times

Monday, September 15, 2008 3:13 PM CDT

RACINE — A fire that displaced a family Sunday morning started on the stove top in the kitchen of the lower unit of a two-family home, according to Racine firefighters.

Reports said no one was home when the fire started at 1234 S. Memorial Drive. Someone driving past the house called in the fire.

Racine firefighters responded to the home at 10:22 a.m. Sunday. Reports said a woman and her children live in the house, but had left prior to the fire starting.

The family is now being assisted with temporary housing by the Red Cross.

Firefighters said Monday that the fire started in the kitchen. They believe it ignited somewhere around the area of the stove top.

The kitchen of the first floor unit sustained fire damage, firefighters said. The rest of the lower unit had heavy smoke damage.

On the second floor, damage was mainly contained to areas where firefighters had to open the walls to make sure the fire had not traveled. Reports said no one lives in the upper unit.

Firefighters said the damage estimate is $40,000, with $30,000 in damage to the structure of the home and $10,000 to the contents.

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