The community is rallying behind a family of four who lost everything after a fire broke out and caused severe damage to their house, injuring a firefighter, in Zion Saturday evening.
The Zion Fire Rescue Department responded around 5:42 p.m. Saturday to the 3600 block of Harbor Ridge Drive in Zion for a report of a structure fire.
Zion Fire Rescue Department Chief Justin Stried said crews arrived to find heavy flames and smoke showing from the rear of a two-story residence.
Some Zion firefighters and paramedics were already on a separate medical call at the time of the fire, which complicated the response.
Firefighters quickly stretched hose lines to attack the fire, Stried said.
The occupants of the home reported that all residents had evacuated and were safely accounted for.
A Working Still Alarm response was dispatched, bringing additional firefighters to assist at the scene as well as covering Zion fire stations for other calls.
Stried said firefighters conducted searches of the home to verify no one was still inside.
They established a water supply, extinguished the fire, ventilated the home and ensured the fire was completely out.
A firefighter was treated and transported to Froedtert South Medical Center in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, for a leg injury.
The firefighter was not admitted and is home doing well, Stried said.
Fire investigators are still reviewing scene information and statements from home occupants and a cause of the fire has not been officially determined yet. The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal assisted at the scene.
Stried said the home sustained severe damage but firefighters did an “outstanding job” in containing the fire to the first floor.
A preliminary building and contents loss was estimated at $200,000 and the residents were displaced.
Eliana Ferrer, who owns the home, told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that her family — consisting of her husband and two children, ages 4 and 10 — lost everything in the fire.
The family was home at the time the fire started following an accident in the chimney, Ferrer said.
“Thank God, my husband, my two children, and I were able to get out in time. We left without shoes or clothes, and the neighbors brought me some blankets to cover my children on the street,” Ferrer said.
A GoFundMe account was created to help the family, whose lives “changed completely,” pay for unexpected living expenses while they rebuild their lives.
The Beach Park, Gurnee, Winthrop Harbor, Pleasant Prairie, Newport, Libertyville, North Chicago and Antioch fire departments assisted at the scene or covered calls in Zion.
Zion ESDA volunteers responded to help with traffic control and provide refreshments for personnel. The Zion Police Department assisted with traffic control and the scene investigation.
“Fortunately for the residents and occupants of this fire, smoke alarms were present and audible during fire suppression operations. This serves as a good reminder that everyone should check their smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to ensure they are in working order,” Stried said.
The Zion Fire & Rescue Department participates in the Be Alarmed smoke alarm program, providing free smoke detectors to residents.