A fire damaged a duplex residence in the 100 block of East Mill Street in Wauconda and sent one person to the hospital Friday afternoon. | Photo Submitted to Lake and McHenry County Scanner

An elderly woman was transported to the hospital after she was rescued from a fire that broke out at a duplex residence in Wauconda Friday afternoon.

The Wauconda Fire District responded around 1 p.m. Friday to the 100 block of East Mill Street in Wauconda for a report of a structure fire.

Wauconda Fire District Battalion Chief John Spratt said crews arrived to find a fire in a storage area underneath a porch.

The fire spread through a wall into the duplex residence, which was filled with smoke.

Firefighters pulled a hose line and began to extinguish the fire in the porch storage area, Spratt said.

Crews then made entry to the home to extinguish the rest of the fire.

Spratt said the fire got into a closet where solvents and chemicals were stored, resulting in the fire flashing on the firefighters.

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A fire damaged a duplex residence in the 100 block of East Mill Street in Wauconda and sent one person to the hospital Friday afternoon. | Photo Submitted to Lake and McHenry County Scanner

Firefighters located an elderly woman still inside the home and assisted her outside, Spratt said.

She suffered smoke inhalation and was transported by ambulance to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A man who was also inside the unit when the fire started had already escaped the residence when firefighters arrived. He was uninjured.

No one was home in the second unit of the duplex when the fire occurred, Spratt said.

The residence was deemed uninhabitable due to smoke and water damage. The American Red Cross was contacted to assist the tenants.

Spratt said the fire was extinguished in approximately 10-15 minutes. A damage estimate was not immediately available.

The Mundelein, McHenry, Grayslake, Fox Lake and Nunda Rural fire departments assisted at the scene.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation but appears to have been accidental in nature from discarded smoking materials, Spratt said.

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