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Investigators probing Murphy's Pub fire in Wauconda

Wauconda Fire Protection District officials said today an investigation continues into the cause of a blaze Friday night at a village pub.

Officials said a Wauconda firefighter was injured after falling on ice inside Murphy's Pub at 110 Slocum Lake Road. The firefighter suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Lake Barrington.

Battalion Chief Kevin Pyne said investigators returned to Murphy's Pub today in an effort to determine the fire's cause.

Firefighters were summoned to the bar at 6:56 p.m. Friday. Murphy's Pub patrons and employees exited the building safely before firefighters arrived, officials said.

Wauconda firefighters needed help from 12 departments to fight the flames in the 13-degree temperature. Officials said while an estimated dollar loss had yet to be determined, significant damage to the building will force the business to remain closed for an unknown period.

Murphy's Pub was at least the third structure in the suburbs to catch fire since Thursday. An industrial building went up in flames at 8:25 p.m. Thursday in Gilberts, followed about three hours later by an Arlington Heights house that officials said had a "high fire content load" that kept it burning into Friday morning.

Pyne said the spate of fires likely was more coincidence than anything related to cold weather. He said fires attributed to frigid weather typically occur through space heater use and other attempts to stay warm.

Wauconda received help at the Murphy's Pub blaze from the Nunda Rural, Lake Zurich, Round Lake, Barrington Countryside, Mundelein, Countryside, Long Grove, Lake Villa, Grayslake, Cary, Fox River Grove and Spring Grove fire departments.

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