On Friday morning, the Marshalltown Fire Department was called to 809 Washington St. for a residential fire assignment. Upon arrival, a story-and-a-half house was found with smoke showing from the roof, according to a press release. Fire crews entered the structure and found a hot and smoldering fire in the attic space. Firefighters opened up an area of the wall and ceiling at the top of a staircase and extinguished the fire.

The fire’s origin was behind the wall and leading to the attic, the cause was an electrical wire failure that serviced a light switch on the wall in the area of origin.

Four adults live in the house, three of them were home at the time of the fire and escaped prior to the arrival of the fire department. The victims have been displaced and are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross. Firefighters were at the scene for approximately 1 ½ hours and were assisted by Marshalltown Police, UPH EMS, and Alliant Energy.