Cary Home Uninhabitable after Monday Morning Fire

A two-story Cary home was rendered uninhabitable after a fire broke out in the family room at about 8:23 a.m. Monday, Dec. 3.

The Cary Fire Protection District was dispatched to the report of a house fire at 205 Machelle Drive. The house is located at the corner of Machelle Drive and Meadow Lane in a subdivision located north of Three Oaks Road. The subdivision is about one mile east of Newbold Road.

Firefighters, uncertain as to whether the house was occupied, immediately conducted an interior search, according to Lt. Michael D. Douglass, public information officer for the Cary Fire Protection District.

"After confirming nobody was in the house, the firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within minutes of arrivng on the scene," Douglass said.

The house is located in unincorporated McHenry County in an area of the fire protection district not supplied with water hydrants, Douglass said.

For that reason, three other fire departments including those from Fox River Grove and Algonquin-Lake in the Hills, were dispatched simultaneously to assist Cary Fire officials at the scene.

Seven other area departments assisted through the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, Douglass said.

Homeowner Gene Wiwczaryk arrived at the home site a short time later. Firefighters said they were able to contain the blaze to the family room, but many of the windows were smashed to help extinguish it.

Investigators from the Illinios State Fire Marshal's Office were on the scene Monday afternoon working determine the cause of the fire. A professional service had also arrived to begin boarding up the home's windows and doors.