Fire destroys roof in Arlington Heights apartment building

A chimney fire Friday night caused the evacuation of about seven families and up to $2 million in damages to an apartment building in Arlington Heights, fire officials said.

The Arlington Heights Fire Department responded to a call just after 11 p.m. to The Pointe Apartments in the 1600 block of Woods Drive, said Cmdr. Bill Essling.

Residents safely evacuated the building, which suffered significant water and smoke damage; the apartment management company relocated all of the residents last night, Essling said.

A few firefighters slipped and fell on the ice outside; one was taken with a back injury to the Immediate Care Center in Buffalo Grove for treatment, he said.

Firefighters battled fire coming out of the chimney as well as inside, in the attic above the apartments.

“We took a line in the front door. Our ladder truck set up in the back to get the chimney opened up, and also to open up the roof,” he said.

The roof burned through and caved in, and the alarm was upgraded to a code 4 and then to a box alarm.

“The roof is probably going to have to come entirely off the building, but we did keep fire out of the building next door,” Essling said. “That’s a huge plus.”

The second building suffered some smoke and soot damage, he added.

Fires involving masonry chimneys often are caused by fire escaping through a crack in the mortar, Essling said. The investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing, he added.

Nicor and ComEd worked efficiently with the fire department to shut off the utilities. The village’s public works department brought a salt truck by to try to minimize the icy conditions.

Emergency crews from Des Plaines, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Wheeling, Palatine Rural, Buffalo Grove, Lake Zurich, Glenview and Hoffman Estates assisted in the response.