Fire near Elburn displaces family, injures firefighter

ELBURN – A fire Saturday afternoon blamed on the burning of landscape materials left a house near Elburn uninhabitable.

At approximately 2:45 p.m. Saturday, firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire at 2N500 Beith Road. The three occupants were able to escape from the house with no injuries, said Elburn and Countryside Fire Protection District Fire Chief Joseph Cluchey in an email.

"The cause of the fire was extension from an outside fire of landscape materials," he said.

A firefighter who had fallen at the scene was transported to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, where he was treated and released, Cluchey said. There were no other injuries.

Damage is estimated at $220,000 along with contents estimated at $120,000. Approximately 18 departments responded to the fire.

Upon arrival at the scene, firefighters were met with heavy smoke from multiple sides of the home, Cluchey said.

"Crews were hampered by an advanced volume of fire coupled with extensive fire loading inside the structure and challenges with the building construction (mansard roof, void spaces, truss ceiling joints exposed to direct flame)," he said.