Highland Park firefighters worked with firefighters from throughout the North Shore Monday night to put out a blaze at 1414 Sheridan Road.
According to neighbor Peter Wolf, the fire started at around 6:45 p.m., in a third story home theater room.The only person in the house was the housekeeper.
When the homeowner and his son pulled into the driveway and noticed heavy smoke coming from the roof, they called 911, according to Highland Park’s Fire Chief Patrick Tanner.
The first alarm was rung at approximately 7:45 p.m., with a second alarm calling out to area departments just minutes later.
“It started on an upper floor – the third floor or the attic,” Tanner said. “With neighbors’ homes on either side so close to this one, the support helped to control this more quickly.”
Fire crews from Highland Park, Highwood, Glencoe, Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, Knollwood, Deerfield-Bannockburn, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods, Northbrook, Wheeling, Winnetka, Northfield, Prospect Heights, Morton Grove and Des Plaines were all on scene. A number of departments sent chiefs to help coordinate firefighting strategy and tactics. The fire was finally put out just before 9 p.m.
The departments fought the fire from inside on all floors as well as from outside, above the tree canopy via ladder trucks and on top of ground-based extension ladders. Firefighters used axes and chainsaws when necessary, and special tarpaulins to cover valuables inside the house.
“We do as much as we can to protect the homeowner’s valuables,” said Morton Grove District Chief Frank Rodgers.
Teams began rolling hoses and heading back to their villages at about 9:30 p.m.
“Just from the amount of fire you could see, they did a good job of making a stop,” Tanner said.
Although the fire was just in the third floor attic area, Tanner told Pioneer Press that smoke and water damage has left the home uninhabitable.
Check out our photo gallery above, or upload your own photos if you have any.
Lane Young
6:55 am on Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Given all of the activity, I'm glad to read everyone is safe. Having lived through a house fire once myself, my heart goes out to the family, and I wish them the best of luck in the days and weeks ahead. Events like tonight also make me glad for the fine members of our (and other) Fire Departments who risk themselves to keep our community safe.
Debbie Glickman
7:50 am on Tuesday, May 10, 2011
My kids and I were uptown in HP last night when we saw the fire trucks come racing through town. It brought back scary memories of a chimney fire we had at our house in the middle of the night 3 years ago. We will be forever grateful to the amazing firefighters who made to our house so quickly and made sure my family was safe and they saved our house from destruction because of their amazing expertise. The firefighters of HP (and every other community) are true heroes and our family is forever grateful to them. We are so happy to hear to that everyone involved in this fire made it out safely.
Sally Higginson
8:50 am on Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Everyone everyone everyone is expressing great relief that no one was hurt in this fire. And yes, we need to be hugely appreciative of the firefighters and emergency rescue teams that come to our aid. Words seem hollow, but the sentiment is genuine: if there is anything we friends and community members can do to offer help, let us know.