Fire investigators are working to determine the cause of a fire which heavily damaged the Loverly Cottage in Lake Bluff early Sunday morning.
Firefighters from Lake Bluff, Lake Forest and Libertyville were called around 2:18 a.m. Sunday to the Loverly Cottage, 5 Skokie Valley Road in Lake Bluff, for a reported structure fire.
The Lake Bluff Fire Department arrived and found heavy fire showing through the roof of a two-story commercial building.
“Limited access and questionable structural integrity of the second floor made fire suppression difficult,” the Lake Bluff Fire Department said. Fire crews pulled two fire hoses and worked to extinguish the fire.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was utilized, bringing additional fire departments to the scene to help bring the fire under control.
The building was once McCormick’s Restaurant and Lounge, which closed in 2009. Loverly Cottage moved into the building in 2016.
No one was injured in the fire, which left firefighters working at the scene throughout the night. Everything in the store was destroyed, according to the owner of Loverly Cottage.
“Despite the swift response and coordinated, professional firefighting efforts, the structure sustained heavy damage,” the Lake Bluff Fire Department said, adding that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.