Firefighters rescued a rabbit and quickly stopped a fire in an attached garage from spreading to an unincorporated Gurnee home Monday evening.
The Gurnee Fire Department, Grayslake Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 10:45 p.m. Monday to the 33900 block of North Summerfields Drive in unincorporated Gurnee for a report of a structure fire.
A resident called 911 to report a car on fire inside the garage attached to their two-story home.
Firefighters arrived and found light smoke coming from the attached garage, Gurnee Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert Heraver said at the scene.
All of the residents safely evacuated the home prior to the fire department’s arrival.
Crews were unable to get access into the garage through its overhead door, so they entered through a man door and found the fire in the garage, Heraver said.
Crews pulled a hose line to quickly attack the fire.
A fire hydrant located in front of the home was used to establish a positive water supply.
Firefighters’ quick actions kept the fire contained to the garage and prevented it from spreading to the house itself.
The house remains habitable.
Two SUVs parked in the garage at the time were pulled out.
One of the residents was evaluated by paramedics for injuries not related to smoke or fire.
They were later released from the scene and were not transported to the hospital.
A rabbit on the second floor of the house was safely removed from the home and was uninjured, Heraver said.
The rabbit was turned over to the homeowner and no other pets were inside at the time.
Firefighters remained on the scene to remove the overhead garage door and ventilate the smoke from the building.
They found slightly elevated levels of carbon monoxide in the garage that they worked to mitigate, Heraver said.
A technician from North Shore Gas also responded to the scene.
Firefighters later learned that the fire did not originate from a car, but was instead possibly electrical in nature.
Investigators were on the scene looking into what exactly caused the fire.
A damage estimate was not immediately available.