An Elgin man who spotted a house fire Tuesday stopped to help the home’s residents before Bartlett firefighters arrived to tackle the blaze.
The Bartlett Fire Protection District was called to the home in the 5300 block of Shotkoski Drive at 5:21 p.m. and found fire coming from the side of the structure and roof, a news release said. The blaze was being fed by the natural gas service to the home and ultimately left the house uninhabitable, fire officials said.
Patrick Legge, of Elgin, said he was driving home from work when he saw black smoke pouring from the house and called 911.
Legge, a former community service officer for the Harper College Police Department and 911 operator, said he has training in being a first responder.
“They teach you in fire response the color of the smoke means things,” said Legge, who now works for The Fitness Connection in Elgin. “It had shifted from clear gray smoke to black smoke, which usually means a house fire.”
When he pulled up, he saw a little boy on his knees near the house. “He was crying, ‘Help, help, help,'” Legge said. “I jumped out of my car and instinct kicked in at that point.”
The boy told him his father was still inside the house, he said.
“I started to run back to the house and yell for the dad,” Legge said. “The dad came out of the garage carrying the family dog.” The family’s cat was still inside, and Legge had to keep the man from trying to save the pet, he said.
“I realized the fire was burning from the chimney. Based on my training, I realized the gas line from the fireplace was ignited. I knew there was a potential of an explosion,” Legge said. “You don’t know how big that gas leak is until you neutralize and investigate.”
Legge called 911 and helped evacuate nearby homes.
“It’s a very unfortunate situation,” Legge said. “It was a very bad fire and ended up causing damage to the house next door. But all the family members were able to evacuate, and all human life was safe.”
A Bartlett firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion and a resident of the home was evaluated at the scene for a medical condition, the news release said.
The family’s cat was rescued by a firefighter.
The fire remains under investigation. A damage estimate was not available Thursday.
More the 40 firefighters were at the scene from seven area fire departments, including Elgin and South Elgin, the release said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
