Lightning causes fire in Fox River Grove

Lightning struck the roof of a Fox River Grove home late Wednesday night and the ensuing fire caused as much as $200,000 in damage, officials said.

The Fox River Grove Fire Department received a call at 10:47 p.m. Wednesday about a fire in the 0-100 block of Glenhurst Court and found the roof engulfed in flames, Deputy Chief Jim Kreher said.

Both occupants of the two-story house, the owner and her black Labrador, were outside when firefighters arrived, he said. “They were pretty lucky, (the owner) just noticed (the fire) when we were arriving, a neighbor had called it in,” Kreher said.

The fire spread across the attic and by the time the fire was extinguished at about 11:30 p.m., the roof was mostly gone and smoke and water had damaged the first and second floors, Kreher said. He estimated the damage at $150,000 to $200,000.

Fire officials helped take valuables out of the house and covered them with tarp, Kreher said. The house is not inhabitable, he said.

Fire departments that provided assistance included Cary, Algonquin-Lake in the Hills, Barrington, Crystal Lake, Nunda Rural, McHenry, Wauconda, Round Lake and Huntley, Kreher said.