Fire damages Danville home

A one-story frame house at 1019 W. Paxton St. burst into flames Tuesday afternoon, but no one was in the home at the time of the blaze.

When firefighters responded to a call from a neighbor and arrived at 3:55 p.m., flames and smoke were shooting out the windows of the home, according to a news release from the Danville Fire Department.

Firefighters also had to enter the vacant home next door in order to make sure no one was hurt and the fire hadn’t spread to that house because heat had caused damage to the wall next to the burning house.

Fire Marshal Shelby Irving was at the scene waiting for the blaze to be extinguished so she could begin investigating the cause of the fire. As of late evening, a cause had not yet been determined and the investigation is continuing.

A neighbor at the scene, Patricia McGhee, said she ran around the corner as soon as she heard about the fire since her mother lives next door to the house.

“This is very unfortunate,” McGhee said. “This is Teresa Merritt’s house, and she’s worked so hard to fix it up. She’s a very hard worker.”

Merritt was at work at the time of the fire, but a relative who arrived at the house called to tell her what had happened.

Contact Denice Thibodeau at or (434) 791-7985.