Firefighters quickly responded to contain a fire after a cleaning crew discovered smoke inside a Gurnee medical building Saturday afternoon.
The Gurnee Police Department and Gurnee Fire Department responded around 3:15 p.m. Saturday to Labcorp, 200 South Greenleaf Street, Suite L, in Gurnee, for a report of a structure fire.
Gurnee Fire Department Lt. Tony Roberts said that cleaning crews discovered smoke in the building and called 911.
Gurnee police officers arrived first and confirmed smoke in the building.
The building houses several medical offices, including the medical laboratory, a dentist and a doctor’s office, Roberts said.
Firefighters entered the building and found smoke coming from underneath the door to a room.
The door was also hot to the touch, Roberts said.
Crews deployed a hose line and forcibly entered the room.
A fire hydrant located in the parking lot was used to establish a positive water supply just in case more water was needed.
“There was a substantial amount of fire and smoke pouring out of the room,” Roberts said.
Firefighters attacked the fire and were able to confine the fire itself to the room, which Roberts said was an administrative office.
“All the fire damage was contained to the one room. Smoke damage spread to the rest of that office and there was a little bit of structural damage to an adjoining suite, but nothing that would put them out of business for an extended period of time,” Roberts said.
No one was injured.
Firefighters had to use extra caution because of the potential biohazards stored inside.
“We just want to be extra careful that we’re not destroying any of that stuff or possibly contaminating ourselves or others,” Roberts said.
There were no fire alarms nor fire sprinkler systems in the building, Roberts added.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation and a damage estimate was not immediately available.