FAIRBURY - The Fairbury Rural Fire Department was dispatched to a house fire at 212 7th Street in Fairbury Sunday evening at 7:37p.m.    

According to Fire Chief Kenny Krause, the initial call said that the fire had originated in the basement and that someone was possibly still inside.   When fire crews arrived, smoke was already pouring out the first and second floor.    The sheriff's office had already performed a primary sweep of the house in smoke conditions and were unable to find anyone else in the residence.   

Fire crews then entered and did an additional sweep of the house, while fire suppression started, but also were unable to find anyone inside.   Krause said that it took some time to find the source of the fire in the basement, but crews were able to get it extinguished.   

Jansen Fire Department was also called in for Mutual Aid, per their mutual aid agreement for structure fires.    Also responding to the fire was Fairbury Light and Water to disconnect the house from electricity and the water due to broken pipes near the fire.   

The State Fire Marshall's office was called in to investigate the cause of the fire, which they determined as accidental.   They were unable to confirm a definitive source of the fire, although they thought it was possibly electrical. 

The house is uninhabitable at this time, but the house is not a total loss.  The Red Cross was called in to help the residents of the household. 

The fire comes after fire crews spent much of last week battling 1,800 acres of a Rock Creek grass fire in Jefferson County.     Chief Krause said the department has decided to keep a burn ban in place for Jefferson County until further notice.  Burn permits that were issued are being called back in.   

Krause said  "We did get some rain, but some places didn't get any.   So we're just going to hang on to it (Burn Ban) and be safe.  Our crews are exhausted."