An electrical fire that started in the attached garage of a home in Oakwood Hills displaced a family early Sunday morning, fire officials said.
The Cary Fire Protection District responded around 2:32 a.m. Sunday to the 200 block of Oak Park Drive in Oakwood Hills for a report of a structure fire.
Firefighters arrived in five minutes and found an outside exterior garage wall on fire where the house’s smart electric meter was located.
Cary Fire Protection Lt. Michael Douglass said that the attached single car garage door was open which allowed firefighters to see fire at the inside electrical panel, which was on the same wall as the smart meter.
The homeowner, his wife and their teenage daughter were home at the time of the fire.
They were initially alerted when smoke began entering an open upstairs bedroom window. Their smoke detectors began sounding, alerting them to evacuate.
ComEd was contacted to remotely shut off the power to the smart meter, Douglass said. ComEd was unable to shut off the meter remotely so they had to respond to the scene.
“Until ComEd arrived firefighters used dry chemical fire extinguishers to keep the electrical fire in check while the power was on,” Douglass said.
The power was successfully disconnected by around 3 a.m. and firefighters were able to extinguish the fire completely a few minutes later.
Fire damage was contained to the garage but the house was filled with smoke and needed to be ventilated.
Firefighters remained at the scene for over an hour conducting fire investigation, salvage and overhaul operations, Douglass said.
A damage estimate was not immediately available and the cause of the fire remains under investigation but is not considered suspicious.
Arrangements were made by the family to stay with relatives overnight. There were no civilian or firefighter injuries reported.
A total of 19 Cary firefighters utilizing two engines, a tower ladder truck, an ambulance and three command units were used at the scene.
The Algonquin-Lake in the Hills, Barrington, Barrington-Countryside, Fox River Grove, Nunda-Rural and Wauconda fire departments also responded to the scene.