Crime & Safety

Smoke Detector Alerts Cary Family to Fire

Sunday night blaze rendered the house at 98 South Street uninhabitable, but all family members escaped without injury.

A working smoke detector is being credited for saving a Cary family from a fire on Sunday night.

Cary resident Lee Grimm retired for the night at about 10:30 p.m. in his house at 98 South Street.

Grimm was awakened by his wife one hour later because the home’s smoke detectors were sounding. He discovered a fire in the house and was able to safety evacuate his wife and both of his children to a neighbor’s house, according to a press release issued by Lt. Michael Douglass, public information officer for the Cary Fire Protection District.

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The Cary Fire Protection District responded to the fire at 11:34 p.m., at which time the house was “well involved with fire and spreading towards the neighboring house at 90 South Street.”

Firefighters first checked to confirm no one was still inside the two homes before they began extinguishing the blaze.

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The fire was brought under control within 30 minutes, but firefighters remained on the scene for several hours, Douglass said in the release.

The Grimm’s house has been deemed uninhabitable due to smoke and fire damage. Property loss estimates are not yet available. Two cars, one in the garage and the other in the driveway, were also destroyed.

The neighboring house also sustained heat damage when the siding melted on the entire side of the house facing the fire, Douglass said.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation, and the Grimm family is staying with relatives.

Fire departments from Crystal Lake, Fox River Grove, Lakewood, Nunda Rural, Huntley, Wonder Lake and Wauconda assisted with the efforts to extinguish the fire.


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