Authorities say two dogs died after they were rescued by firefighters from a fire that caused significant damage to a home near Lake Bluff Sunday evening.
The Lake Bluff Fire Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 5:20 p.m. Sunday to the 1700 block of Shore Acres Drive in unincorporated Lake Bluff for a report of a structure fire.
Lake Bluff Village Administrator Drew Irvin said the homeowners arrived back home and found smoke throughout their house.
Firefighters arrived to find an active basement fire in the 5,600-square-foot single-family residence.
Lake Bluff was the first fire department on the scene and managed the event, Irvin said.
“The responding crews did a great job stopping the fire from traveling to the first and second floors in an extremely hot basement,” Irvin said.
Two dogs were reported trapped inside the home and firefighters searched for them.
Firefighters located and removed both dogs, who were described as being older with poor mobility.
Lifesaving efforts were performed but the two dogs both died from their injuries, Irvin said.
One of the responding firefighters suffered minor burns during the incident.
The home is located in an area that does not have fire hydrants nearby and water had to be hauled to the scene.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the box alarm level.
Many fire departments responded, including Lake Forest, Libertyville, North Chicago, Beach Park, Newport Township, Deerfield-Bannockburn, Great Lakes Naval Station, Countryside, Grayslake and Northfield.
Irvin said the residence was deemed uninhabitable and there is significant damage to the basement, along with smoke damage throughout the house.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Lake Bluff Fire Department.