MAPLE PARK – The cause of a fire that destroyed a camper Monday morning near the DeKalb-Kane county line remains an open investigation.
Firefighters from Maple Park, Sycamore, Burlington and Elburn responded to
the fire about 10:30 a.m. on the property of a home on County Line Road in Maple Park.
No one was inside the camper at the time, Sycamore Fire Chief Mark Kessler said. A pickup truck, parked behind the camper, also caught fire. Kessler said the fire was fully involved when Sycamore firefighters arrived.
Large clouds of smoke rose from the camper while firefighters worked to get rid of hot spots. They smashed the camper's windows and pried open the truck's hood, flooding the engine with water.
The camper and truck were parked near an old barn on Dennis and Lenda Reiter's property. Because propane was stored in the barn along with a motorcycle and antique car, Dennis Reiter said it was fortunate the barn did not also catch fire.
The direction the wind blew was beneficial, Kessler said, because "that barn would have been completely engulfed" had the wind changed direction.
Though Lenda Reiter was home at the time, a neighbor first noticed the fire, which Dennis Reiter thought may have been caused by an electrical short in the rear of the camper.
Kessler said the camper was destroyed and the pickup truck likely was as well. Between the two, he estimated a $50,000-$75,000 loss.
"Oh, I can't believe this," Lenda Reiter said while she and her husband watched firefighters hose down the smoldering camper.
The Reiters owned the camper since 2003 and said they took several trips in it.
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