The coroner’s office has released the identity of a 68-year-old man who died inside his home in Fox Lake after it became engulfed in flames Thursday morning.
The Spring Grove Fire Protection District responded around 2:46 a.m. Thursday to the area of Main Street and Wilmot Road in Spring Grove for a report of a structure fire.
The fire district said crews found a fully engulfed house fire in the 900 block of Main Street.
Because the house was located on the north side of the street, it turned out to be located in Fox Lake, not Spring Grove.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System was activated to the third alarm level due to a lack of hydrants in the area, the fire district said.
The upgraded alarm level prompted the response of over two dozen fire departments, including some Wisconsin departments.
Flames had engulfed the single-family residence and left much of it destroyed.
After the fire was extinguished, fire crews discovered a person deceased inside the rubble, McHenry County Coroner Dr. Michael Rein told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
On Friday, Rein identified the victim as Jozef K. Wisniewski, 68, who resided at the residence.
Fox Lake Police Chief Jimmy Lee said that Wisniewski was found near a sliding door and appeared to have been trying to exit the residence.
No one else was inside the residence at the time of the fire.
The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal was called to the scene to assist the Fox Lake Fire Protection District and Fox Lake Police Department in the investigation.
An autopsy has been scheduled on the victim for Monday. No further details were available regarding if the death was believed to be suspicious or not.
Illinois fire departments that assisted at the scene were Richmond, McHenry, Wonder Lake, Grayslake, Woodstock, Lake Zurich, Gurnee, Antioch, Nunda-Rural, Fox River Grove, Cary, Lake Villa, Barrington-Countryside, Round Lake, Wauconda, Winthrop Harbor, Newport, Crystal Lake, Woodstock, and Lincolnshire-Riverwoods.
Wisconsin fire departments that assisted at the scene were Twin Lakes, Randall, Salem Lakes, Bloomfield, Wheatland, Linn, Bristol and Lake Geneva.
The incident remains under investigation by the McHenry County Coroner’s Office, Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal, Fox Lake Fire Protection District and Fox Lake Police Department.