UPDATE: One person seriously hurt in Champaign home fire

Bradley Zimmerman
·1 min read

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — One person is seriously hurt after a fire broke out in the Garden Hills neighborhood of Champaign Thursday afternoon.

The fire happened on Joanne Lane near the intersection of Honeysuckle Lane. Officials with the Champaign Fire Department said they received an alarm at 3 p.m. from a neighbor living near the single-story home.

One woman said she heard a loud boom, and she looked outside to see the house in flames. Video provided to WCIA, courtesy of an anonymous witness, shows the size of those flames as firefighters responded to the scene.

Danville home destroyed in two-alarm fire

Neighbors said the woman who lives at the home has been living there for years, and she and her family are known throughout the neighborhood. They said that after the fire started, they saw a woman outside on her lawn, naked and burned along her arm.

Champaign Fire officials said that woman was taken to the hospital; rather than transporting her via ambulance, firefighters instead requested AirLife for transport via helicopter. No firefighters were hurt.

Firefighters deployed multiple hose lines to bring the fire under control and then extinguish it. The house was heavily damaged, and a neighboring home was damaged by the heat.

The cause of the fire remains unknown at this time, officials said. Investigators are still on the scene conducting their investigation.

A still image of smoke rising from an April 11 fire in Champaign’s Garden Hills neighborhood, recorded on a skycam at Memorial Stadium
A still image of smoke rising from an April 11 fire in Champaign’s Garden Hills neighborhood, recorded on a skycam at Memorial Stadium

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