DePue house fire thought to be caused by lightning strike

A number of neighboring agencies assisted the DePue Fire Department in extinguishing a house fire Tuesday on East Fourth Street.

Firefighters were called at 9:34 p.m. Nobody was home at the time of the fire, Spring Valley Fire Chief Todd Bogatitus said. A DePue firefighter was treated at the scene but not taken to a hospital.

Bogatitus said firefighters believe the fire was caused by a lightning strike. The home had heat, smoke and water damage.

Firefighters from Spring Valley, Peru, Ladd, Standard, Cherry and Bureau assisted DePue.

While en route to the structure fire, Bogitutus said Spring Valley’s department received multiple emergency calls including accidents, trees down and power lines on vehicles.

“Spring Valley got hit pretty good,” he said. “It was like one big swipe right through town. Parts of town got nothing, but from Walmart to City Hall in a straight line there’s a lot of damage.”

Spring Valley responded to seven calls in town involving the storm, he said. A total of 10 calls were made between 9 and 11:30 p.m. The Dalzell Fire Department assisted by running two calls for Spring Valley, so crews were able to respond simultaneously.

No injuries were reported.

DePue Fire Chief Josef Vasquez said in a Facebook post that he cannot thank the other departments enough for the support they gave when called. He used Tuesday as an example of the need for more volunteers.

“The majority of communities are struggling to keep active numbers up,” he said. “So please, consider volunteering. It only helps the communities you reside In.”

Storms cause power outages in Ottawa, Peru, Spring Valley

Storms dumped rain and put on a light show Tuesday night into Wednesday morning in La Salle and Bureau counties.

There were some reported power outages in Spring Valley, Ottawa and Peru. A tree fell on a power line in Peru, causing electric crews to cut power to remove it, Mayor Ken Kolowski said on his Facebook page. Power was restored in less than an hour.

A tree fell across Adams Street in Ottawa, closing that block to traffic. Heading into Wednesday morning, there were just shy of 500 customers without power in Ottawa and just less than 500 customers without power in Spring Valley, according to Ameren.

A semitruck crash led to the closure of the Ottawa Route 23 ramp onto Interstate 80.

The storms also featured some reports of hail and heavy winds Tuesday night.