Second fire in last 3 months found in vacant home

Investigators are working to determine what caused a small fire to start in the upper levels of a vacant house on 1st Street Tuesday, June 16, 2026.

At 4:49 p.m. Fond du Lac Fire Rescue was dispatched to 166 E. 1st St. for a reported fire in a two-story multi-family residential home. Upon arrival crews found light smoke showing from an attic vent located on the back side of the house. Firefighters made entry into the structure and found a few small, smoldering fires in the attic which they quickly extinguished with a hose line. Crews then searched the entire building for occupants but found no one.

Minor fire damage occurred to the attic of the home which was previously heavily damaged by a fire on March 5th of this year. Following that fire, the house was deemed unhabitable and has been vacant ever since.

Fond du Lac Fire Rescue say an alert neighbor who noticed the smoke coming from the attic vent and called 911 likely saved the fire from rapidly growing in size and causing further damage.