Junction City firefighters responded to 1212 North Clay Tuesday evening for a residential structure fire.

There were no injuries.

Police reported a good Samaritan assisted in getting all the children out of the residence before emergency response arrived on scene.  According to the Fire Department seven to eight people lived in the residence which is considered a total loss. Fire Department Battalion Chief Rick Rook put the damage estimate at $20,000 to $25,000.

“Upon arrival we had approximately 800, 900 square foot home that was heavily charged with smoke and had fire showing from one side of the residential. ”  Rook added, “Due to the construction of the building and many hidden voids, as well as many roof lines that had been added on to over the years we weren’t able to get a good hold on the fire, and consequently ended up with a long term firefight for approximately three hours.” Eventually heavy equipment had to be brought in to help bring down part of the building so firefighters could “get to the seat of the fire.”

The Fire Department responded to the scene initially with 15 personnel but due to the extent of the fire and the time it took to bring it under control there was significant callback of personnel from the JCFD and mutual aid was requested from the Fort Riley to cover the remainder of the city while Junction City firefighters were engaged at the 1212 North Clay site.

The names of those who lived at the residence are not yet available. Authorities this morning will be investigating the cause of the fire and the circumstances that led up to it.