A nail salon is unoccupiable after a fire, which was quickly extinguished by firefighters, broke out inside the business in a strip mall in Mundelein early Sunday morning.
The Mundelein Fire Department initially responded around 5:10 a.m. Sunday to Quick Pick Liquors, 635 North Midlothian Road in Mundelein, for a fire alarm activation.
Quick Pick Liquors shares a strip mall building with Mundelein Nails, 639 North Midlothian Road.
Firefighters arrived in minutes and found smoke coming from the roof of the strip mall.
The call was upgraded to a structure fire, bringing in additional firefighting resources from the Mundelein, Lake Zurich, Countryside, Libertyville and Lincolnshire-Riverwoods fire departments.
“They made access into the building and found a small fire in the back utility room of 639 [North Midlothian Road],” Mundelein Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Lockwood said at the scene.
Firefighters deployed hose lines and quickly attacked the fire.
A ladder fire truck was positioned at the rear of the strip mall so firefighters could access the roof and further assess the fire.
A fire hydrant at the corner of Bonniebrook Avenue and Route 176 was used to establish a positive water supply.
The fire was extinguished in around 20 minutes.
“Crews also went into the adjacent units to ensure that there was no fire extension and it did not extend past the unit of origin,” Lockwood said.
The strip mall was empty at the time, and no injuries were reported.
“The fire was fought by 22 firefighters staffing 5 fire engines, one ladder truck, one quint, one squad, and two ambulances that responded to the scene along with one chief officer and three fire investigators,” Lockwood said.
Field employees with ComEd and North Shore Gas responded to tend to power and natural gas utilities.
Mundelein police officers provided traffic control and scene security during the incident.
The Mundelein Building Department also responded to assess the structure’s damage.
“The adjacent units are not affected in terms of being able to do business,” Lockwood said.
Lockwood credited the fire alarm system with giving firefighters a valuable head start in containing the blaze.
“It gives us early notification. Generally, that is the purpose of the fire alarm, so it did its job in this case, and we were able to get here early and extinguish the fire before it grew and extended into other units,” Lockwood said.
Fire investigators from three departments are continuing to determine what exactly caused the fire.
A damage estimate was not immediately available as the investigation continues.
The Mundelein Fire Department was assisted at the scene and with change of quarters coverage by the Buffalo Grove, Barrington Countryside, Countryside, Libertyville, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods, Lake Forest, Lake Zurich and Greater Round Lake fire departments.