No firefighters were injured while battling a blaze in a single-family home in Antioch despite ammunition igniting and going off during the fire Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Antioch Fire Department Battalion Chief Ryan Keefe said firefighters were called to the scene of the residential house fire in the 41000 block of North Circle Drive at 1:21 p.m. Tuesday.
Upon arrival, crews found the single-story residential house with smoke and fire coming from the front and rear of the building, Keefe said.
In addition, Keefe said live ammunition in the house was going off when firefighters arrived on the scene.
Keefe said the ammunition did not affect firefighter suppression operations, and crews were able to put water on the fire right away.
He said no residents were home at the time of the blaze, adding neighbors called emergency crews to the scene.
He said no civilians or fire service personnel were injured in the fire.
Keefe said a Mutual Aid Box Alarm was activated because of a lack of fire hydrants in the area, bringing in crews from Round Lake, Fox Lake, Lake Villa, Newport, Grayslake, Beach Park, McHenry, and Spring Grove in Illinois, and Wisconsin crews from Salem, Twin Lakes, and Bristol.
“The crews did a great job at making a stop on the fire,” Keefe said. “Crews worked for about four hours to extinguish, conduct overhaul operations, and extinguish hidden fires.”
He said the house was deemed uninhabitable due to the damage the home sustained in the blaze.
Due to the living conditions, the Red Cross was called in to assist the family, Keefe said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Antioch Fire Department, Lake Villa, Round Lake and Newport.