Teenager warns residents of house fire

By Ed Tibbetts | Tuesday, August 07, 2007

A 15-year-old boy is being credited with alerting people inside a west Davenport duplex to a fire that did substantial damage to their home Monday afternoon.

Authorities say the teenager, whose name was not available from fire officials Monday night, saw smoke at 1449 W. 10th St. and knocked on the duplex doors, allowing the residents to get outside.

“He even got the dogs out,” Davenport Fire Department Capt. Tony Ruckoldt said.

No one was injured.

The cause of the fire, which was reported just before 4 p.m., remains under investigation.

Ruckoldt said it began on the roof of a shed beneath a second-floor deck.

The blaze, he said, spread to the deck and then to the building and a kitchen. “There was quite a bit of damage.”

Ruckoldt was not sure Monday night how many people were inside, but he said one of the residents was asleep when the teen came along.

The dwelling on the first floor sustained water damage, and a neighboring home, at 1443 W. 10th St., also was affected.

A damage estimate was not available Monday night.