Three residents evacuated safely after the back of their house caught on fire in Fox Lake just after midnight on Sunday, leaving the residence uninhabitable.
The Fox Lake Fire Protection District responded at 12:03 a.m. Sunday to the 200 block of East Grand Avenue in Fox Lake for a report of a structure fire.
Firefighters arrived and found heavy fire coming from the back of the house, Fox Lake Fire Protection District Lt. Corinne Bauer said at the scene.
All the residents were out of the single-story house when firefighters arrived.
A fire hydrant just east of the house off Linden Avenue was used to establish a water supply, Bauer said.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated, bringing in fire apparatus from departments in Lake and McHenry counties to the scene and to one of the Fox Lake fire stations for coverage.
Bauer said there were no challenges to the fire attack.
“They were able to make a good knock. They made it inside and a lot of drywall was coming down so they had to knock it from the outside after that,” Bauer said.
No one was injured and the fire remains under investigation.
A neighbor told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that they heard a sound and thought the residents started a bonfire.
“(I) looked out the window to see the entire rear of the house engulfed in flames,” the neighbor said.
The neighbor brought their children to safety and called 911 to report the fire.
“I yelled over to make sure everyone was out,” the neighbor said. “Thank God they were all out and ok.”
A damage estimate and the cause of the fire were not immediately available.
Bauer said the house was deemed uninhabitable and three residents were displaced.
Bauer added that the fire does not appear to be suspicious in nature.