Well over a dozen fire departments worked for several hours, hampered by significant weather, to extinguish a fire that caused significant damage to an office building in Fox River Grove.
The Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District responded around 12:40 a.m. Sunday to the Fox Glen Professional Offices, 400 Fox Glen Court in Fox River Grove, for a report of a structure fire.
The Fox River Grove Police Department had initially been dispatched to the location for a burglar alarm activation.
Officers arrived and found flames coming out of the roof of the building, fire officials said.
Firefighters arrived to find a single-story multi-tenant commercial property with flames and smoke showing from the roof ridge.
A 360-degree assessment was performed and a command post was established.
Crews performed a primary search and attempted a combination interior and exterior fire attack to extinguish the fire, fire officials said.
The fire was running up the interior ridgeline of the roof structure. Significant weather outbreaks hampered firefighters’ efforts.
The incident was eventually upgraded to a box alarm through the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS), bringing additional fire departments to the scene.
Fire officials said the fire spread quickly and unchecked through inaccessible void spaces within the roof structure.
Crews continued a combination fire attack consisting of multiple elevated master streams, interior fire attack and ground-level exterior attack utilizing the open eaves of the building.
Drone technology was also used to assist in the overall operational fire attack plan. The fire was declared out at 3:25 a.m.
Crews were able to contain the fire to the unit of origin but the building suffered significant water damage.
There was significant roof damage to the unit of origin as well, fire officials said. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but significant thunderstorms were in the area before and during the incident.
The Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District was assisted by the Hoffman Estates, Wauconda, Long Grove, Buffalo Grove, Lake Zurich, Barrington, Cary, Fox River Grove, Palatine, Schaumburg, Streamwood, Huntley, Countryside, Hanover Township, Mount Prospect, Wheeling, Deerfield and Inverness fire departments.