A female was found dead after firefighters extinguished an extra-alarm fire that engulfed a house and prompted the response of numerous fire departments near McHenry.
The McHenry Township Fire Protection District and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday to the 2800 block of North Magellan Drive in unincorporated McHenry for a report of a structure fire.
A neighbor called 911 to report a home nearby was on fire.
It was reported that a female subject was possibly still inside the home in a bedroom.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived and attempted to make entry to the home but were unable to due to the fire engulfing the home, according to the sheriff’s office.
Firefighters arrived in 11 minutes and confirmed heavy flames were showing from the first and second floors of the two-story, single-family home.
Fire officials said crews initially attempted to enter the home to search for occupants and extinguish the fire but could not due to the heavy fire conditions.
Firefighters conducted an attack on the fire from the exterior and then switched to an interior attack and search once conditions improved.
The fire caused extensive damage to the structure and the house was deemed uninhabitable, fire officials said.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the box alarm level to bring numerous additional fire departments to the scene.
The incident was eventually upgraded to the third alarm level to bring water tender trucks to the scene.
A deceased female occupant, whose age was not released, was located in the home during the course of the fire investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
A firefighter suffered minor injuries and did not need to be transported to the hospital. A second occupant of the home was also injured and released at the scene after being treated.
Fire investigators and the McHenry County Coroner’s Office were called to the scene.
The identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification to her family.
The Algonquin, Antioch, Cary, Fox Lake, Fox River Grove, Grayslake, Greater Round Lake, Harvard, Hebron, Huntley, Lake Villa, Lake Zurich, Nunda, Richmond, Spring Grove, Twin Lakes, Wauconda, Wonder Lake and Woodstock fire departments assisted during the incident.
The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army also assisted at the scene.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal and McHenry Township Fire Protection District.