Elgin Firefighters responded to house fires late Thursday night and early Friday morning — making it three house fires in a 36-hour time span for the department.
One man was charged with arson Friday for the Thursday evening fire.
At 11:28 p.m. Thursday, firefighters were called to the 1100 block of Morton Avenue for the report of a house fire, with one resident possibly still inside, officials said.
On arrival, firefighters reported seeing fire coming out of on the second-floor windows on the home’s north side, officials said.
The fire was upgraded to a “working fire” and two engine companies of firefighters made their way to the second floor, bringing the blaze under control in eight minutes, officials said.
A search was conducted and no one was inside the home other than the family dog, which was alive and was taken by animal control officers, officials said.
Due to the extent of fire damage coupled with smoke and water damage, the building was determined unsafe to inhabit and red-tagged by code enforcement. The preliminary damage report was estimated to be approximately $75,000 to the home and its contents.
Marcos Hernandez, 43, of that address, was charged Friday with a class X felony count of aggravated arson-knowledge of people present.
According to police reports, Hernandez is accused of setting a pile of clothes, sitting on top of a mattress, on fire with a match following a fight with another resident. He then left the home and was arrested by police a half-hour after officers arrived on the scene.
A female resident told detectives that she had a fight with Hernandez, who is her boyfriend, and that she and her three children were in the house when the fire was started, however all exited the house and no injuries were reported, officials said.
Bail was set at $250,000, and Hernandez was given an April 15 court date.
Then, about two hours after the first fire, at 1:38 a.m. Friday, firefighters were called to the 200 block of Raymond Street for a fire in a two-unit apartment building. The first arriving unit said flames were coming out of the upper apartment’s south windows, officials said.
That fire was brought under control in about 14 minutes.
The second floor apartment’s resident was treated on the scene for possible smoke inhalation and released.
Officials said the resident was alerted to the fire by his dog barking and that there were no functioning smoke detectors on the second floor. Occupants of the lower unit had exited the building and were unharmed, officials said.
The building was also deemed unsafe and red-tagged by code enforcement. Damage was estimated at $25,000.
No injuries were reported.
The spate of Elgin fires started Wednesday afternoon, when a fire started in a home on the 50-100 block of South Union Street. In that fire, damage is estimated at $100,000 to the home and its contents. A total of 14 fire crews were called to the blaze. That fire is believed to have started in the basement.
Elgin Fire Battalion Chief Robb Cagann commented that is has been a busy spring for the Elgin Fire Department, including house fires and several serious accidents.
“We do run in strings like this from time to time — nothing and then a number of them in a row,” Cagann said.
Part of why so many crews were called to the Union Street fire was the amount of “stuff” in the home, and the difficulty of fighting a fire that may have started in the basement, he said.
But after two bottles of air are used by any one firefighter, they are switched out to keep the men and women from becoming exhausted when fighting a blaze, he said.
Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter.
