Fire at vacant apartment building in DeKalb

DeKALB – DeKalb firefighters responded to a fire at a vacant apartment building on the city’s north side Friday afternoon.

Authorities asked members of the public to temporarily avoid a portion of the city’s north side while emergency crews from the DeKalb Fire Department worked on the fire.

A citywide DeKalb emergency alert went out at 1:59 p.m. Friday asking the public to avoid the area of Hillcrest Drive and Greenbrier Road until future notice “for a structure fire,” according to the alert.

Upon arriving on scene, authorities said the crew had to use forcible entry to get into the building, 1024 W. Hillcrest Drive, formerly Hunter Tri-Frat apartment building.

Crews responded to reports of the fire at 1:42 p.m. Friday, according to a news release from the DeKalb Fire Department. The fire was reported inside the building on the second floor and extinguished within 30 minutes.

Fire Chief Mike Thomas said there was smoke coming from the building, and crews were concerned that flames made it to the attic.

It remains unclear how the fire got started as of Friday afternoon.

“I don’t know any causation,” Thomas said. “It’s a little too early to know that right now.”

Thomas said the fire has since been extinguished as of 3 p.m.

“They’re performing overhauls, which means they’re looking for hotspots,” Thomas said.

There were no injuries reported in the fire, authorities said.

The fire remains under investigation by the DeKalb Fire Department. Authorities said the fire caused an estimated $75,000 in damages.

Crews from Cortland, Genoa-Kingston, Maple Park, Sycamore, Rochelle, Waterman and Kaneville assisted, along with ComEd, Nicor and DeKalb police.

This story was updated at 5:02 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, with information from DeKalb Fire Chief Mike Thomas.