The Ottawa Fire Department hasn’t determined what caused a fire in a two-story house at 1st. Ave. and Center St. Wednesday night. But it started in the kitchen, spread up the wall, and caused heavy damage in an attic. Marseilles and Wallace fire fighters helped at the fire scene and the fire was out quickly. Ambulance crews from Grand Ridge, Utica, and Marseilles were in Ottawa at the same time because of several medic calls.
The fire department says the house is old and built in a “balloon frame” style. Those are houses from an era with very long timbers going up from the basement or foundation to the attic with no fire stops between floors. Sometimes, there’s still no insulation in the walls, so it’s very easy for a fire to spread fast.