A detached garage and a two-story house caught on fire in the 39300 block of North Cedar Crest Drive in unincorporated Lake Villa Tuesday afternoon. | Photo: Remi Merrill

No one was injured after a three-alarm fire destroyed a garage and a house in unincorporated Lake Villa Tuesday afternoon.

The Lake Villa Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 12:15 p.m. Tuesday to the 39300 block of North Cedar Crest Drive in unincorporated Lake Villa for a structure fire.

Firefighters arrived to find two structures – a detached garage and a two-story house – engulfed in flames.

A detached garage and a two-story house caught on fire in the 39300 block of North Cedar Crest Drive in unincorporated Lake Villa Tuesday afternoon. | Photo: Joe Shuman/J. Shuman Photography (2024)

Lake Villa Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Dane Costello told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that all the residents were able to evacuate.

Fire officials believe the garage was the first to catch fire, spreading to the nearby house.

A large column of smoke was seen in the distance.

Crews conducted defensive fire operations the entire time but did enter the structure at least once, Costello said.

[Suggested Article]  Contractors accidentally cause fire that damaged 2 townhomes, leaving residents displaced in Vernon Hills

A fire ladder truck was also deployed to attack the fire from above.

Firefighters battle a three-alarm fire that destroyed a garage and two-story house in the 39300 block of North Cedar Crest Drive in unincorporated Lake Villa Tuesday afternoon. | Photo: Remi Merrill

Water tenders were called to the scene because the area does not have fire hydrants.

Costello was relieved that the winds happened to be blowing from the west to the east where there were no other houses downwind.

“Had it been blowing in the other direction, it probably would’ve caught the adjacent house on fire,” Costello said.

The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the third alarm level, bringing apparatus from fire departments throughout Lake and McHenry counties.

Firefighters battle a three-alarm fire that destroyed a garage and two-story house in the 39300 block of North Cedar Crest Drive in unincorporated Lake Villa Tuesday afternoon. | Photo: Remi Merrill

Some fire apparatus on the fourth and fifth alarm levels responded to the scene to backfill for the previous alarm levels.

Costello said no one was injured, but the two structures were a “total loss.”

Firefighters remained on the scene until around 5:35 p.m.

[Suggested Article]  Multiple chickens die after fire engulfs large chicken coop near Lake Villa

A damage estimate or cause of fire was not immediately available.

Several fire departments are assisting the Lake Villa Fire Protection District with the investigation.