An investigation is underway after a fire fully engulfed a vacant house and left it completely destroyed in Zion early Thursday morning, fire officials said.
The Zion Fire-Rescue Department and Zion Police Department responded around 2:38 a.m. Thursday to the area of Salem Boulevard and Gilboa Avenue in Zion for a report of a structure fire.
Zion Fire-Rescue Department Chief Justin Stried said the fire was called in by a passerby.
Police officers reported finding an active fire coming from the home in the 2200 block of Salem Boulevard.
Fire crews arrived and reported finding a single-family residence well engulfed in flames, fire officials said.
The incident was upgraded to a Working Still Alarm to bring additional resources to the scene.
The incident was later again upgraded to the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) to the box alarm level.
Extra firefighters were required at the scene and to staff Zion fire stations during the duration of the fire.
Fire officials said the conditions inside the home were not safe to conduct a full search for any potential victims.
It was soon learned that the house was unoccupied and the chances of anyone being inside were “very slim.”
Stried said the home was vacant but was still full of the previous occupant’s possessions.
The man who lived there died a couple of months prior and did not have any local family.
Firefighters battled the fire for hours and the fires in the void spaces inside the home could not be fully accessed to be extinguished.
A local contractor was called to partially demolish the house so firefighters could locate and extinguish the hidden fires, fire officials said.
Many fire departments from Lake County and Kenosha County responded to assist.
The Zion ESDA provided traffic control along with the Zion Police Department. Utility companies and the Zion Public Works Department also responded.
The house is considered a total loss and the structure will soon be fully demolished and cleared in an effort to keep the community safe.
“We can’t classify the cause of the fire since we have so little to go on. Investigators are still working on their report, so it will be considered undetermined since there is no one to interview and no evidence to collect due to the amount of damage,” Stried said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.