DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – Firefighters battled a fire on Cantrell St. in Decatur all day Friday.
Crews were called to the intersection of 16th and Cantrell around 8:30 a.m.
Heavy smoke was showing from the second story of a home.
Shortly after they arrived, there was an explosion, possibly caused by a back draft.
A couple lives in the house. The man came home from work as crews were fighting the fire.
Multiple cats were killed in the fire.
Firefighters were still on the scene at 8 p.m. Friday and searching through debris. Nobody was found as of that time and the investigation was ongoing.
UPDATED: A body was discovered late Friday evening by Decatur fire crews.
Captain Kirk Riley says after more than 14 hours on scene, around 10:40 P.M, a body was found in the rubble.
That body has now been identified as Bertha Louise Harden, 67, of Decatur. No foul play or injuries were found. The cause of death is listed as carbon monoxide poisoning.
"We were dispatched around 8:09 A.M., and I left around 12:30 A.M," Riley says.
Robert last saw his wife Bertha in the house before he left for work around 7 A.M.
Riley says the house was so full of stuff, it was hard to search through the debris.
"When people live that like, it makes finding things more difficult," Riley says.
According to Riley, this was a fire tough fire to battle not only for him, but his crew as well.
"It's just a bad situation, "Riley says. "It was a tough day, a tough fire."
The house fire was near Eisenhower High School. The holiday basketball tournament started at 10 a.m. and large amounts of traffic are expected.
