Fire at vacant building in Rockford Sunday

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - A fire that costs an estimated $40,000 in damages leaves a building completely unsavable and will be torn down.

The Rockford Fire Department got the call around 10:15 a.m. Sunday for a commercial fire on the 500 block of 15th Avenue.

First responders arrived on scene within 4 minutes and observed a large building fully engulfed in flames and found another building east of the initial call also starting to catch on fire. First responders controlled the flames in around 40 minutes.

District Chief Brian Carlson says the building wasn’t occupied and was marked as hazardous because of its condition.

“The building itself has been vacant for many years and it was identified through our pre plans from the fire department with a red X on the front of the building which is a do not enter structure for us. It had structural damage, it had a lot of damage inside the building that would be unsafe to firefighters. It was a completely defensive tactic here so we attacked the fire from the exterior and put the fire out that way,” says Carlson.

Carlson says they are still investigating the cause of the fire.

No injuries were reported and Carlson says the building will be torn down for safety reasons.

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