A 100-year-old home undergoing renovation was heavily damaged early Sunday morning after a fire started on the first floor, fire officials said.
The Libertyville Fire Department was called at 12:34 a.m. Sunday to the 300 block of Lake Street in Libertyville for a report of smoke in the area. Fire crews arrived and located a house on fire.
“Arriving units found a deep seated well involved fire in the home which was vacant and under construction,” the Libertyville Fire Department said. The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was utilized and a 2nd alarm was called to bring additional fire crews to the scene.
The home, which was undergoing renovation, is over 100 years old and has had several additions added to it over the years, fire officials said.
“Due to the age and construction type, the fire was extremely difficult to access and extinguish,” the department added. Firefighters entered the house and found a large hole burned through the first floor. The fire quickly spread to the second floor and into the attic.
The balloon type construction of the home allowed the fire to spread rapidly through many void spaces, which made it difficult for firefighters to access the fire.
Crews remained at the scene until around 11:30 a.m., over 11 hours after the initial response, to fully extinguish the fire. Investigators believe the fire started on the first floor where the hole was burned away at but it is unknown how it started.
No one was injured and none of the neighboring houses were damaged.
Lazzaretto Builders will do just about anything to ensure another tear-down in downtown Libertyville, so they can put one of their homes in its place! Just kidding… (sort of).