Feb. 23--A Burlington man came home to discover his house was on fire Saturday night, but no one was at home when the blaze started.
The Burlington Fire Department responded to 1135 S. Starr Ave. about 8 p.m. to find heavy smoke coming out of the rear of the house. By the time firefighters arrived on scene, flames were shooting out the back door.
The owner of the house, Ronald Linkemann, called 911 as soon as he discovered the fire, opening the back door before he did. Though there was no visible fire damage to the front of the house, the back was fully engulfed in flames.
Firefighters had trouble finding a fire hydrant that had enough pressure for their hoses, which delayed their efforts. Once they found a fire hydrant that worked, it only took 15 minutes or so to extinguish the blaze.
A water main break was discovered at the intersection of Division and Marshall streets about 6 p.m. Saturday night, though it was not known if that had any impact on the water pressure of the hydrants.
"We had one hydrant that didn't open up all the way, so we ended up switching hydrants across the street," said Capt. Don Ryan. "We had water, but we couldn't open up the hydrant all the way."
An estimate on damages was not available Saturday night, and there were no further details on the source or cause of the fire. Burlington Fire Marshal Mark Crooks was still on the scene investigating the fire as late as 9:30 p.m.
"No one was hurt," Ryan said.
West Burlington firefighters responded for additional aid.
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