DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — A kitchen fire Tuesday afternoon quickly made its way through a house on East Olive Street in Decatur, destroying most of the interior of the home.

Residents Calvin Carson and Tanika Smith were both out of the house when the fire started. Carson explained that he had put grease on the stove to heat himself a meal, but when he got a call from his bank alerting him of fraud, he left right away.

"It was just that quick. My mind went blank [when] I had that [grease] going. I went on to the bank and in no more than ten minutes ... I was getting all these phone calls, and it was my neighbor. He said, 'dude, your house is up in smoke.' Immediately, I already knew I had left that grease," he said.

Smith and Carson said they were appreciative of the firefighters on scene

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