By Brandi Makuski

Two residents have been displaced following a basement fire on the 2600 block of Helen St. Monday night.

Metro Fire crews responded to a home on the corner of Welsby Ave. and Helen St. at 4:56 PM after a caller reported smoke inside a rental unit of a single-story duplex there.

When crews entered the home to investigate, they quickly found a fire in the basement, according to Stevens Point Assistant Fire Chief Jodi Baganz. The presence of flames inside the home triggered a call for Plover and Hull firefighters, who also comprise the Metro Fire force.

Teams from Wisconsin Public Service were also onsite, temporarily shutting down power for about a dozen homes between Welsby Ave. and Heffron and Helen streets so the duplex could be disconnected from the rest of the grid while fire crews investigated.

“They only had one smoke detector sounding, so that was kind of a concern,” Baganz said, adding he planned to speak on that issue with the rental unit’s maintenance staff.

A total of four adults lived inside the structure. Two were “totally displaced”, Baganz said, while two other residents opted to sleep elsewhere for the night due to residential smoke.

Crews had the fire extinguished by 5:39 PM. Baganz said no one was injured but the cause is still under investigation.

Stevens Point Police Dept. and Portage Co. EMS also responded.