photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

The North Lawrence residence damaged by an overnight house fire at 712 Locust St. is pictured just after noon Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023.

Updated at 12:28 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20

The cause of a fire that damaged a home in North Lawrence early Wednesday morning is under investigation by Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

No one was injured in the overnight emergency.

Police and firefighters were called to the house at 712 Locust St. at 1:37 a.m. Wednesday, and initial reports indicated there were visible flames on the house’s porch, as the Journal-World’s partner Operation 100 News first reported.

According to a news release from LDCFM late Wednesday morning, the fire was declared under control within an hour and crews remained on scene for more than two hours checking for fire extension and hot spots.

The release said that two adults and two children were displaced by the fire and were currently working with the Red Cross.

photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical personnel work the scene of an overnight fire at 712 Locust St. in North Lawrence Wednesday afternoon.

The closest fire hydrant to the scene was out of service, the release said, and a “significant electrical hazard” at the front of the house posed another challenge while firefighters were on the scene.

Fire Chief Rich Llewellyn told the Journal-World that he hadn’t yet heard a specific reason for the hydrant nearest to the home being out of service as of late Wednesday morning, but common causes can include damage from collisions or mechanical failures with the hydrant valving. Llewellyn said such failures happen rarely.

“We have a robust water system with the City of Lawrence, and this includes North Lawrence,” Llewellyn said. “This system is regularly maintained and tested by our Municipal Services & Operations Department and is part of our regular (every five to six years) evaluation by the Insurance Services Office.”

The availability of water for fire suppression is a critical factor in the overall evaluation of a community’s fire suppression capabilities, Llewellyn added, and Lawrence currently has the highest possible “Public Protection Classification” — the ISO’s scoring standard for a community’s fire protection capabilities.