Fire officials said one firefighter was injured during a fire at a vacant residence near Antioch that caused $300,000 in damage Wednesday evening.
The Antioch Fire Department responded around 9:29 p.m. Wednesday to the 40700 block of North L Street in unincorporated Antioch for a report of a transformer fire.
Firefighters arrived and met with the person who called 911, who told them that a wire was down on the other side of the train tracks.
“This is an area that only has one road in and out of the subdivision. The crew’s access to the area was delayed by two freight trains blocking the crossing,” the Antioch Fire Department said in a statement.
Once the trains cleared, the crew arrived on the scene and found a primary power line down with a small, isolated fire on the pavement.
While waiting for a ComEd crew to respond, firefighters noticed smoke in the air between the address and the north side of an adjacent house, the department said.
Firefighters investigated and found heavy smoke coming from the north side of the two-story residence.
The response was elevated to a structure fire, bringing in additional crews.
Access to the residence was hampered by the live primary power line that was in front of the residence.
Crews encountered floor-to-ceiling smoke with moderate heat inside the residence.
With no fire hydrants in the immediate area, water had to be shuttled in by water tenders.
The alarm was again elevated to bring in additional crews due to the extremely high wind and the challenging fire attack, the fire department said.
The Canadian National Railway was notified to stop all trains due to a large water supply line being laid across the tracks.
Numerous hose lines were used in the suppression of the fire, officials said. Crews remained on the scene until approximately 1 a.m. Thursday.
The home remains uninhabitable with extensive fire damage throughout.
One firefighter sustained minor injuries during the incident. The loss is estimated to be approximately $300,000.
Neighboring fire departments from Illinois and Wisconsin responded to the scene and also covered additional calls in Antioch.