A tough fire fight: Newspaper carrier sees vacant home on fire in Racine & alerts fire crews

RACINE (WITI) -- Fire officials in Racine say an alert newspaper carrier noticed a vacant home on fire early Sunday morning, August 31st, and called 911.

It was around 4:30 a.m. Sunday when the newspaper carrier discovered fire at a home on Racine's near north side.

Fire officials responded to the vacant, two-story home in the 1800 block of Geneva Street.

There, firefighters encountered compromised floors that eventually burned away in the areas of the first and second floor.

Fire officials say due to burned away structural components, portions of walls and floors were observed to have moved as much as 18 inches while crews were on scene.

It took about 45 minutes for fire crews to extinguish this fire.

No one was injured.

Damage is estimated at $50,000.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.