A Wheaton apartment building was destroyed Monday afternoon by a fire possibly caused by a lightning strike, but no one was injured, officials said.
Fire Chief Gregory Berk said all residents of the 24-unit building in the Amli at Danada Farms complex had evacuated by the time fire trucks arrived shortly after 3:30 p.m. Firefighters entered the building to retrieve dogs and cats, he said.
Staring up at the charred roof of his top-floor unit, Mark Bremner said, “I see this on the news. I never expected it to happen to me.” He plans to stay with a friend in Naperville.
Becky Johnston’s roommate arrived home around 4:30 p.m., saw the flames and called her. She doesn’t know what, if anything, can be salvaged because no one was being allowed in the building because fire investigators still were on the scene. She said she’ll stay with her parents.
Berk said shoppers at the nearby Wheaton Town Center reported seeing lightning as part of a storm squall that moved through the area before the fire.
“We think that the fire may have been weather-related, and we are investigating that,” he said.
About 100 firefighters, including some from several neighboring departments, fought the blaze. It was brought under control about 5 p.m.
No other DuPage communities reported significant storm damage.
