It could have been worse.

That is how the residents of 956 Polk Ave. felt a day after a fire caught them by surprise. They said they are thankful no one was injured and are ready to move on with their lives.

Unfortunately, they will have to do so from a different location.

Fire Chief Pat Goodwin said damages to the rental house, which will not be habitable for the remainder of the semester, were estimated at $50,000.

Connor Walsh, a political science and international studies major and Mikel Storm, a management information systems major, are two of the three former residents.

Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs, said his staff has been in contact with both of the Eastern students and were also on the scene Tuesday to provide support.

“Our overall goal is to help provide short- and long-term relief to Connor and Mikel,” Nadler said, “This could include providing temporary housing, meals and the like. Students often need textbooks, clothing, school supplies, Panther Cards and other (miscellaneous) items.”

The third resident was Conrad Widdersheim, a biology education major at Lake Land College, who plans to transfer to Eastern in the fall.

Widdersheim said a neighbor saw the first thing that caught fire was an “old busted TV” on the covered porch located along the house’s west side.

The fire then spread to the west wall, the porch roof and eventually engulfed a large portion of the house’s northwest corner.

Both Walsh and Storm, who were home at the time of the incident, were able to safely vacate the premises.

Widdersheim was not home. Instead, he was at a driving range for a golf class.

Widdersheim said he received a call from Walsh during class but did not answer, and when he saw that Walsh left him a voicemail he began to think that something might have be out of the ordinary.

Shortly after, Wittersheim said he received another call from a friend and became even more concerned.

“I thought they were playing a joke on me or something,” he said.

After class was dismissed, Widdersheim said he immediately returned the most recent missed call-that was when he learned of the fire.

Widdersheim said by the time he arrived at the scene the fire had been contained.

After the fire had subsided, the residents were allowed back into the house to recover some possessions.

Walsh said he and Storm were able to salvage most of their property, but that the majority of it suffered smoke damage.

Widdersheim was not as lucky as his roommates. His bedroom was located very near to where the fire had started and the fire had destroyed his bed. He said he was able to recover approximately 50 percent of his wardrobe, and that he grabbed his Xbox 360, computer and Ipod, but that he does not expect them to work because of water damage resulting from the effort to extinguish the fire.

Widdersheim said he also lost three textbooks.

Walsh and Widdersheim said they expect their damaged property to be covered under their parent’s homeowner’s insurance. Storm was covered under renter’s insurance.

Goodwin provided an estimate of $20,000 in damages to the house’s contents.

Walsh said he spent the day at his parent’s house in Effingham, but he plans to return to campus Thursday to attend classes.

He said he will stay with friends for the week, but he is currently looking for a place to live for the remainder of the semester.

Widdersheim said he will complete the remainder of the spring semester from his parent’s home in Strasburg, approximately 20 minutes from the Lakeland campus.

Jason Hardimon can be reached at 581-7942 or at jrhardimon2@eiu.edu

Pull out:

The house, which was built in 1898 and remodeled in 2003, according to Coles County records, is currently owned by Tony Hoene, of Effingham.

Hoene and Goodwin said it has been determined that the fire’s origins were not electrical or mechanical, and that the fire was not ignited within the home.

Goodwin said the fire department has speculated as to the fire’s cause, but at this time there is not sufficient evidence to support their hypotheses.

“We’re putting it down as undetermined,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin said this was the first significant residential fire the Charleston Fire Department has responded to since October.

“We appreciated the efforts of the Mattoon fire department, Lincoln Fire Station 1, and the Coles County Red Cross,” he said.

Richard Edwards, assistant chief of the Charleston Fire Department, works to put out the house fire on Tuesday evening at 956 Polk Ave. The cause of the fire still remains unknown. (Karolina Strack / The Daily Eastern News)

(more…)