Apartment fire displaces Arlington Hts.-area residents

A fire left an apartment unit uninhabitable Friday afternoon in an unincorporated area near Arlington Heights, authorities said.

A resident of the apartment building on the 2200 block of Nichols Road, near Lake Cook Road and Route 53, called 911 just before 1 p.m. to report the smell of a burning odor. Crews from the Long Grove Fire Protection District discovered the small fire in the bedroom of an apartment unit on the second floor and were able to extinguish it with about 2.5 gallons of water/foam from an extinguisher, according to Chief Robert Turpel.

Firefighters found a garbage can and its contents burning, along with some clothes inside a laundry basket and carpeting.

The apartment was unoccupied at the time of the fire, but the rest of the building’s occupants were evacuated as a precaution, Turpel said.

The heat and smoke damage, estimated to be about $65,000, destroyed blinds, ceiling fans, light fixtures and electronic equipment.

The American Red Cross found temporary housing for the apartment’s three residents: a woman and her two teenage children.