Thebes home 'a total loss' after fire

THEBES, Ill. -- A house fire in Thebes that started early Monday morning rekindled later in the morning, summoning volunteer firefighters back to the scene.

No one was at home at the time of the fire, said Larry Hale, assistant fire chief of the Thebes Volunteer Fire Department. The former wood residence at 123 Bean Ridge Road in Thebes was a "total loss and I mean a total loss," Hale said.

Hale said he was called about the blaze at 1:20 a.m. and two volunteer departments from Horseshoe Lake, Ill., and McClure, Ill., joined his own. He said 20 to 25 firefighters were on the scene.

"I live about a mile below here," Hale said. "I could see the sky glowing. I knew it was a bad one."

He said firefighters were on scene until almost 5 a.m. and had been back since 8:30 a.m., Hale said about 1:15 p.m. Monday. The house was home to Ischia May, her boyfriend, her daughter and granddaughter, Hale said.

Hale said May was at her father's house on the other side of town. They found the home engulfed in flames when they returned and called firefighters, he said.

According to Hale, the fire marshal said the cause of the fire was undetermined.

"The only thing the people could say was there was a space heater in the baby's room and they don't know if they turned it off before they left," he said.

Scott Bomar owned the house and lives next door to it. He said Monday he's sure the house will be rebuilt. He saw the blaze early Monday morning. "They were beating on the door and my son thought someone was getting arrested, so he woke me up and I looked out the window and saw it," said Bomar, who owns Anthony's Service Co. in Thebes.

"It was cold last night when they were out there, so I started my heater up in my camper so they could have some kind of refuge so we could all figure out what we needed to do," Bomar said. The tenants have renters' insurance and he said the Red Cross was expecting to provide necessities for a few days.

Pertinent address:

123 Bean Ridge Road, Thebes, Ill.