Dozens of firefighters were called to help extinguish a fifth-alarm fire that heavily damaged a large home near Gurnee on Sunday, fire officials said.
The Gurnee Fire Department responded around 10:25 a.m. Sunday to the 36700 block of North Kimberwick Lane in unincorporated Wadsworth for a report of a structure fire.
Crews arrived and found fire on the east side of the large single-family house, Gurnee Battalion Fire Chief James Pellitteri said.
Firefighters deployed four hose lines and a ladder truck to attack the fire from both the outside and inside of the residence.
The fire was contained to the residence.
The area did not have fire hydrants and crews were initially challenged with finding the origin of the fire.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the fifth alarm level as a precaution, Pellitteri said.
Fire departments from northeast Illinois and Wisconsin responded to provide aid, many of which brought water tenders.
The residents were not home at the time of the incident and no one was injured, Pelliterri said.
Pellitteri said that firefighters never ran out of water due to the tenders, which helped to prevent the fire from getting out of control.
He also said that all the fire departments at the scene worked well together.
The fire department stayed on the scene until around 2:30 p.m., Pellitteri said.
A damage estimate and cause of the fire was not immediately available as the incident remains under investigation by the Gurnee Fire Prevention Bureau.