Cause of Peru fire undetermined, but neighbors say they saw flash of lightning, heard a bang

Peru firefighters responded to an unoccupied house fire in the 1900 block of Eighth Street on Saturday morning, after a police officer spotted flames shooting from the house during a routine patrol.

Firefighters arrived at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday to flames coming through the roof at the front of the second-story house. No one was found in the residence and homeowners were contacted, confirming no one was living there at the time, said Police Chief Jeff King. No one was injured. Fire units returned from the scene at about 5:30 a.m.

The cause of the fire is undetermined but not considered suspicious, King said. After speaking to multiple neighbors in the area, they told the officers they saw lighting flash then heard a loud bang, King said.

Peru was assisted by La Salle, Oglesby, Spring Valley, Utica and Tonica fire departments, as well as Peru police, PVAS and Valcom.