One dead after morning house fire in rural Oregon

OREGON – One person is dead after a house fire north of Oregon this morning, Oregon Fire Chief Michael Knoup said.

Oregon Fire was dispatched to 1141 E. Spring Creek Road at 8:04 a.m. and was made aware a victim was still inside a burning 1.5 story residential single family home. Two teams entered, one for fire suppression and another for search and rescue. The victim was removed and there was a fatality on scene, Knoup said.

Ogle County Coroner Lou Finch said the autopsy is pending and that more information, such as the victim’s identity, could be released Friday. The state fire marshal’s office was also on scene starting its investigation just before noon Thursday.

Knoup said the victim was the only person in the house at the time of the fire.

Water had to be brought from off site to fight the fire due to it being in a rural location, Knoup said. At least 10 area fire departments assisted at the scene, many of them trucking in water.

Those departments included Mt. Morris, Stillman Valley, Dixon City and Rural, Rochelle, Polo, Lynn-Scott Rock, Ashton, Leaf River and Franklin Center.

“Structure fires aren’t our normal day,” Knoup said. “The interior attack went smooth. We sent in two teams, one to do search and rescue and one to do fire suppression. It went well. We were on scene quickly and the structure is still standing. That’s a great stop for us when we’re bringing our own water.”