Watseka firefighters responded to two fire calls Dec. 16 and Dec. 17.

Watseka Fire Chief Ken Baier said in a press release that the fire Dec. 16 was at 209 E. Walnut. Police called in the fire at 9:15 p.m. because there was smoke coming from the apartment, he said.

Baier said there was smoke throughout the upstairs apartment. The cause of that fire was determined to be that a resident was burning trash inside a metal container inside the apartment.

“(The) resident had been staying there without permission,” he said. “There was no water, gas or electricity to the apartment. The fire was put out with a pump can. Smoke was cleared from the apartment building and then secured by the owner.” He said there was no fire damage and the resident, unnamed in the report, was relocated to a hotel.

The second fire was at 9:15 p.m. Dec. 17 and was at 320 N. Third.

This was a basement bedroom fire, Baier said.

“Damage was kept to a basement bedroom,” he said in the report. “A wall outlet caught fire and then the clothes next to it caught fire, but the damage was kept to that room.”

Cause of that fire as a failure of the electrical outlet.

Baier said, “(The) owner called 911 stating that his house was filling with smoke but unable to see any fire. Fire departments responded and found smoke throughout the residence and after a primary search for fire its as located in a bedroom in the basement at the far side of the house.

“A single hand line was pulled and fire was a quickly put out. Everyone was out of the house. There were two dogs save and one cat unfortunately was not able to be saved. Four residents have been displaced. “

Watseka and Crescent-Iroquois firefighters responded to both fires and Riverside Ambulance responded to the fire on Dec. 16.

Baier said there were no working smoke detectors at either location.