Dozens of firefighters responded to help extinguish a fire that fully engulfed a garage attached to a home in a rural area of Mundelein where there are no nearby fire hydrants.
The Mundelein Fire Department and Mundelein Police Department responded around 9:50 p.m. Friday to the 6000 block of West Route 60 in Mundelein for a report of a structure fire.
Mundelein Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Lockwood said firefighters arrived and encountered a garage fire.
The garage, which was attached to the home, was fully involved in flames.
A vehicle and landscaping equipment were inside the garage, Lockwood said.
The area where the fire occurred does not have fire hydrants close by. “Water supply and scene access presented challenges to initial arriving companies and operations,” Lockwood said.
Firefighters set up hose placement and defensive operations — extinguishing the fire from the exterior — to protect the surrounding area.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the box alarm level.
Lockwood said a rural water supply was established by other fire departments, which assisted the initial firefighting operations.
Approximately 1,500 feet of large diameter supply hose was used to establish a water source.
The fire was reported under control in approximately 30 minutes at 10:20 p.m.
No residents or animals were injured as a result of the fire, Lockwood said.
The fire was fought by 40 firefighters staffing four fire engines, a squad, three ambulances, five water tenders and four chief officers.
A damage estimate was not immediately available and the cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Lake County Fire Investigators Strike Team.
Lockwood said the residence attached to the garage sustained some smoke and water damage and was deemed uninhabitable.
The Mundelein Fire Department was assisted by firefighters from Antioch, Countryside, Lake Zurich, Gurnee, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Libertyville, Long Grove, Buffalo Grove, Newport, McHenry, Round Lake, Wheeling, Fox Lake, Lake Villa, Nunda Rural and Waukegan.
Fire officials said residents should be reminded of the importance of having functioning smoke detectors, which provide early warning of a fire.