Pet cats are unaccounted for after a fire broke out and engulfed a residence, leaving it uninhabitable with $375,000 in damage, near Crystal Lake early Monday morning.
The Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department responded around 1:16 a.m. Monday to the 5000 block of Meadowlark Court in unincorporated Crystal Lake for a report of a structure fire.
Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department Battalion Chief William Whyte said a 911 call was received by the homeowner reporting the fire.
Firefighters arrived in five minutes and found flames and smoke showing from the single-story residence.
Fire crews did not enter the house due to the amount of fire, Whyte said.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the box alarm level to bring additional resources to the scene.
Whyte said the area has limited fire hydrants and fire department tender trucks were called to haul water to the scene.
The Algonquin-Lake in the Hills, Barrington, Barrington-Countryside, Carpentersville, Cary, Huntley, Marengo, McHenry, Nunda Rural, West Dundee, Wonder Lake, Wauconda and Woodstock fire departments assisted.
The McHenry County Rehab Canteen also responded.
The residence sustained significant fire, heat, smoke and water damage. It was deemed uninhabitable.
A neighbor told Lake and McHenry County Scanner the house is a known hoarder house and many cats lived inside.
The neighbor said she does not know whether any were rescued but is hopeful that a lot of them ran out of the home.
No adjacent homes were damaged. No injuries were reported to any residents, Whyte said.
Damage was estimated to be $375,000. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The fire is the second structure fire to occur in the Crystal Lake area in just over 24 hours.
Two firefighters were sent to the hospital with injuries while battling a fire that damaged a barn in the 5700 block of Haligus Road in unincorporated Crystal Lake, prompting the response of more than a dozen departments.