Old car, motorcycles destroyed in barn fire near Lake Villa

An old Ford Model-A car and three Harley Davidson motorcycles were destroyed in a barn fire in unincorporated Lake County near Lake Villa, officials said.

There were no injuries in the blaze in the 36000 block of North Fairfield Road at 11:02 a.m. Sunday, said Lake Villa Fire Protection District Chief Frank Slazes.

The fire ignited while the homeowner was using an acetylene torch to cut steel in the barn. A piece of hot steel landed on a tarp nearby, and it caught fire and spread quickly, causing the barn to go up in flames, Slazes said.

The fire destroyed the barn, and the antique car and motorcycles inside.

“There was also a fork lift and some ATVs inside,” Slazes said. “There was a lot of stuff that was totally wiped out.”

It took about 45 minutes for the fire to be snuffed out. Tankers from Fox Lake, Antioch and Round Lake were called to the scene to assist, while crews from Gurnee were called to cover fire stations in Lake Villa.