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Early morning fire in Sumner destroys building and causes power outage

Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 7:51 PM

By Steve Anderson

Units of the Christy Fire Protection District along with other firefighting agencies were mobilized early Wednesday May 20th to battle a large vacant structure fire in Sumner.

Around 2 a.m. CT, firemen were called out to the May building located on the 100 block of Christy Avenue. The building was in the process of being demolished and the fire was able to be contained to that building without major damages to surrounding homes and no reported injuries. No cause has been given.

The blaze did damage high voltage transmission lines owned by Ameren, Illinois and caused a major power outage affecting the entire city of Sumner. The company began work to restore electricity.  As a result, Red Hill Unit 10 cancelled classes at the Sumner Attendance Center (SAC) for the day and vehicular traffic was shut down on Christy Avenue north of the railroad tracks in Sumner.