As crews fight fire at home in Marengo, house across the street catches fire too

As Marengo firefighters battled a house fire Monday night, a second fire popped up across the street.

As the Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts fought a house fire Monday night, the house across the street also caught on fire, according to the district spokesman. Firefighters were called at 9:52 p.m. to Millstream Road outside Marengo, public information officer Alex Vucha said. Crews arriving on scene found fire at the rear of a single-family residence.

Firefighters entered the home while other crews made their way to the rear deck to put out the fire there. While crews were able to knock down much of the blaze quickly, it had already spread into the home’s attic. Firefighters had to open portions of the roof and ceiling to locate and extinguish hidden fire in the attic and walls, Vucha said.

That blaze was declared under control in approximately 45 minutes, he added. While working on the first fire, occupants of a house across the street alerted crews on the scene that there was a fire at their home also. With a potential second house on fire, the incident was upgraded to bring in firefighters from neighboring districts and additional water, Vucha said.

At the neighboring home, firefighters found a small fire on the home’s exterior siding, and the homeowner was able to douse the fire before firefighters arrived, Vucha said. A section of siding was removed to ensure the flames had not spread inside the walls. Both homes were occupied when the fires were discovered, but all residents were able to evacuate safely.

The first home had damage to the rear deck, attic, roof and portions of the interior and is considered uninhabitable until repairs can be made, Vucha said. Both fires remain under investigation by the Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the State Fire Marshal.