Calling it the city’s worst tragedy in “at least two generations,” Avondale Estates Mayor Ed Rieker insisted that the city’s recently vacated fire station at Clarendon Avondale had no impact on the response time to Saturday night’s fire killing residents Tami and Jess Willadsen.
“There was a fire truck in the vicinity that got there in less than five minutes. The house went up unbelievably quick.” Rieker said Tuesday. Firefighters moved out of Avondale’s Fire Station No. 3 — set for a complete rebuilding — just two weeks ago and into the old DeKalb County Police Headquarters on Camp Circle. The current headquarters is 2.1 miles, or roughly six minutes away from the Willadsen house on Lakeshore Drive, while the old station is 0.8 miles, or two minutes away, according to Mapquest.
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