Officials still investigating Mount Morris fire: Sunday blaze destroyed home, killed family pet
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MOUNT MORRIS – State and local officials still are trying to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a Mount Morris home early Sunday morning.
Bobbi Kump and her three children lost all their possessions in the fire. Their family pet, Vixen, a German shepherd, died in the blaze, said Mount Morris Fire Chief Rob Hough.
Kump, a paramedic for the Mount Morris Fire Department, was at work when the fire occurred, and her children were staying overnight with their grandmother, who lives nearby, Hough said.
“We have an area of origin at this time but are still trying to pinpoint the cause,” Hough said. He said the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department and State Fire Marshal’s office are investigating.
He said the fire started in the downstairs of the two-story home, located just south of the village limits, at 1847 N. Mount Morris Road.
Kump and other ambulance crew members were returning from an ambulance call when a neighbor reported the fire at 2:42 a.m., Hough said.
“A neighbor on Clinton Street called 911 because he could see a light that seemed abnormal,” Hough said. Mount Morris Police patrolman Mike Cicchetti found the home “fully involved in fire.”
The structure’s roof had collapsed when firefighters arrived, he said.
Dense fog may have been a factor in why the fire was not observed sooner, Hough said.
“You couldn’t see the flames until you were right there,” he said.
The Kump home is the second on that street to be destroyed by fire in a little more than 6 months. The home of Kerry Beckingham, located just south of the Kump home at 1823 N. Mount Morris Road, burned July 13, 2009, in a fire determined to be electrical.
The homes are located within a block of the city limits on a portion of road known locally as South McKendrie Avenue.
Oregon, Forreston, German Valley, Polo, Byron, Dixon Rural and Stillman Valley fire departments assisted Mount Morris at the scene. The Leaf River Fire Department stood ready at the Mount Morris station.
Help the family
An account has been set up at Union Savings Bank, 2 W. Main St., Mount Morris, for Bobbi Kump and her three children, Adam, 17, Kaitlin, 14, and Seth, 11. They lost their home and all of their possessions Sunday in a fire.
Monetary donations should be directed to the Bobbi Kump Benefit at the bank.
Clothing, food, school supplies, toys and other items are being accepted at the Mount Morris Firehouse, 15 E. Center St.
For a list of clothing sizes, go to the fire department’s Web site at www.mountmorrisfire.com.
