No one injured in Lisle house fire
BY BILL BIRD wbird@stmedianetwork.com February 5, 2013 10:20PM
Updated: February 6, 2013 11:56AM
Lint that had built up inside a clothes dryer apparently sparked an electrical fire Tuesday morning that damaged a house in Lisle.
Four people who were home at the time escaped unharmed when the fire erupted about 6:25 a.m. at 555 Hitchcock Ave., northwest of Maple Avenue and Interstate 355.
Twenty-five firefighters from the Lisle-Woodridge Fire District quelled the blaze, Bureau Chief Jim French said Tuesday. No firefighters or other personnel were hurt during the emergency, he said.
The first firefighters arrived at the scene within three minutes of the initial 911 call, French said in a release. He said they reported finding “heavy smoke in the basement.”
Crew members stretched a hose to the basement “and began extinguishment of the fire that was located in the dryer,” French said. Firefighters also “strategically ventilated the building, assisted with hose lines” and searched for anyone who might have been inside the house, he said.
“There were four people home at the time of the fire,” French said. They had gotten outdoors safely under their own power by the time firefighters arrived, he said.
French said firefighters had the blaze under control “within minutes.” Emergency crews remained on the scene performing salvage and overhaul operations in the damaged area of the house, he said.
Members of a fire investigation team concluded lint in the clothes dryer started the blaze, French said. “Minimal damage was caused by the fire, and the building was determined to be habitable once the utilities were restored,” he said.
Four fire engines, two ladder trucks, two medic units and a command team vehicle were sent to the scene, French said. Firefighters from several neighboring fire departments and fire protection districts provided coverage at Lisle-Woodridge stations during the blaze, he said.
