One Person Injured, Garage Destroyed in Crystal Lake Fire

One person suffered minor injuries Thursday afternoon when a detached garage located on McHenry Avenue in Crystal Lake was destroyed by fire.

The blaze started at about 3 p.m. Jan. 10, at a stand-alone residential garage at 291 McHenry Avenue, corner of Union Street, according to Crystal Lake Fire Battalion Chief Christopher Olsen.

The Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department was called to the scene at 3:02 p.m. and first crews were on site in less than three minutes, Olsen said. Upon their arrival, rescuers found the garage fully engulfed in flames.

Once determining no one was inside the structure, fire crews worked to extinguish the flames. The fire was under control within 19 minutes, Olsen said, and reported as struck out by 3:28 p.m.

The garage and its driveway face Union Street at the corner of McHenry Avenue. The structure was completely charred by the blaze.

One "occupant of the property" was transported to Centegra Hospital in Woodstock and treated for minor injuries, Olsen said. The person's name was not released.

Initial damage estimates were $10,000 for the structure and $10,000 for the contents of the garage, officials said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department, Olsen said.

Responding fire departments included units from Algonquin, Cary, Huntley, Lakewood, McHenry, Nunda Township, Fox River Grove and Wonder Lake.

At 4 p.m., the intersection of McHenry Avenue and Union Street remained closed to through traffic as fire trucks and other emergency vehicles prepared to depart. At one point, officials closed intersections at Grove, Douglas and Oriole where they meet McHenry Avenue while they worked to extinguish the fire.