Afternoon fire damages JC house

Jefferson City firefighters wash each other off with water after responding to a structure fire on Franklin Street on Monday. There were no injuries, and no one was in the house at the time of the fire, which took about ten minutes to put out. JCFD Public Information Officer Jason Turner said there was serious damage throughout the building.
Jefferson City firefighters wash each other off with water after responding to a structure fire on Franklin Street on Monday. There were no injuries, and no one was in the house at the time of the fire, which took about ten minutes to put out. JCFD Public Information Officer Jason Turner said there was serious damage throughout the building.

The cause of a Monday afternoon house fire in Jefferson City may not be determined for a couple of days, fire officials said.

Jason Turner, Jefferson City Fire Department public information officer, said the fire at a single-story home in the 100 block of East Franklin Street was called in shortly after 3:30 p.m.

A search of the home found no one inside. Turner said it took firefighters about 10 minutes to bring the fire under control.

"The home suffered serious damage," Turner said. "We believe it started in the rear of the residence, but we're not sure what was the cause of the fire."

Turner said they were able to find out four people had been living in the home.

Capital Region Health Center's COVID-19 testing site is across the street from the home, but Turner said they were able to alert hospital officials to divert traffic so the site could continue to operate while firefighters dealt with the fire.