Damage is seen to the roof of a home at 516 Grove Street following a fire on December 29, 2025. Allison Ullmann/Raccoon Valley Radio

The Perry Fire Department responded to a house fire on Monday evening.

According to Perry Fire Chief Grason Hill, the department was dispatched to 516 Grove Street at 4:15 p.m. He adds that when firefighters arrived, there was heavy smoke coming from the attic, followed by some flames around 20 minutes later.

Hill details that fire crews proceeded to do an interior attack through an opening going to the attic. Three firefighters cut a hole on the roof with a chainsaw before dousing the fire with water. 

Hill adds that the fire was harder to contain because the water splattered against the blown-in insulation and caused numerous small fires in the upstairs of the home.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze and the crews left around 6:45 p.m. 

Hill explains that the fire started on the north end after the home owners blew a fuse earlier in the day. He adds that the blaze caused severe damage in the attic and the home sustained a lot of water damage. 

Everyone was evacuated from the home, though Hill says one Perry firefighter suffered minor injuries, after the firefighter slipped and fell on the roof.

Monday night’s blaze was the second one in a week as the Perry Fire Department was previously called out on December 22 for a fire at El Rey Market.

Hill says that the weather was decidedly colder Monday night with temperatures around 14 degrees. 

“The temperature today was terrible. The minute you sprayed water on anything, it immediately froze. I had my firefighters being careful on the street and on the roof because we kept spraying water because it was froze solid up there. Ladders are very dangerous due to freezing immediately. So yes, it was quite a change from last Monday.”

The Bouton Fire Department also responded to the scene.