
A fire damaged a vacant house and prompted the response of more than a dozen fire departments, resulting in traffic delays on Route 21 near Libertyville, Friday morning.
The Libertyville Fire Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 4:42 a.m. Friday to the 100 block of Brookside Court in unincorporated Libertyville for a report of a structure fire.
Fire crews arrived and found heavy smoke and flames coming from the residence, according to Libertyville Deputy Fire Chief Steven Holtz.
Neighbors reported to the fire department that the house was vacant.
The area does not have fire hydrants nearby and a tender operation to haul water to the scene was established.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated for fire department tender trucks to respond to the scene, Holtz said.
Firefighters performed a defensive operation in fighting the fire by extinguishing it from the outside.
Holtz said the fire was brought under control at 5:49 a.m., more than an hour later. It was fully extinguished at 6 a.m.
No injuries were reported during the incident.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said northbound and southbound traffic on Route 21 near Route 137 was impacted due to the fire.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said the fire does not appear to be suspicious in nature.
The Countryside, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods, Mundelein, Zion, Lake Forest, Newport, Lake Villa, Grayslake, Lake Zurich, Great Lakes, Round Lake, Buffalo Grove, Northbrook, Deerfield, Long Grove, Waukegan, Winthrop Harbor, Lake Bluff, Wheeling, Highland Park, North Chicago, Wauconda and Antioch fire departments assisted at the scene and covered Libertyville fire stations.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Holtz added.