A family was displaced after their house became fully engulfed in flames and damaged a second house in Mundelein early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The Mundelein Fire Department and Mundelein Police Department responded around 4:37 a.m. Thursday to the 100 block of South Seymour Avenue in Mundelein for a report of a structure fire.
Mundelein Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Lockwood said it was reported that the house was fully involved in flames.
Fire crews arrived at the scene in six minutes and found heavy fire coming from two sides of the home through multiple windows and the front door.
The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was activated to the box alarm level for additional fire departments to respond.
The occupants of the residence had evacuated prior to the fire department arriving on the scene, Lockwood said.
Firefighters pulled a hose line to the front of the home and initiated an attack on the main body of fire while other firefighters connected to a nearby fire hydrant.
Lockwood said the second arriving crew operated a master stream to help control the main body of fire in a transitional attack before crews entered the house to check for extension of the fire.
There was significant fire extension into the attic space of the house, which was extinguished.
The fire was reported under control at 5:24 a.m., nearly an hour after it broke out. No residents or firefighters were injured.
The family who lived at the residence was displaced as the home was deemed uninhabitable, Lockwood said.
The fire also damaged the vinyl siding of a home next door. The fire did not extend to that house and it remains habitable.
The family lost all of their belongings and neighbors are collecting clothing and other items for them.
Lockwood said the Lake County Fire Investigators Task Force responded to conduct an investigation into the cause. A damage estimate was not immediately available.
The fire was fought by 32 firefighters staffing six fire engines, a squad, three ambulances, a quint and an incident command vehicle.
The Mundelein Fire Department was assisted by the Arlington Heights, Countryside, Inverness, Highland Park, Libertyville, Lake Zurich, Gurnee, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Long Grove, Lake Bluff, Lake Zurich and Wauconda fire departments.
The fire department said they remind residents of the importance of having functioning smoke detectors to provide early warning of a fire.