Faulty gas grill causes Lake Villa Township fire

A Lake Villa Township man escaped injury when an unattended barbecue set his detached garage on fire, authorities said.

Greg Phillips, director of the fire prevention bureau at the Lake Villa Fire Protection District, said the unidentified homeowner ignited his gas grill at 4:05 p.m. Sunday inside of his garage in the 37000 block of Route 59. He went inside his house to let the cooker heat up.

When the homeowner returned outside, the gas grill had malfunctioned and ignited the garage, Phillips said. Winds pushed the flames higher until it roared out of control, he said.

The homeowner initially tried to put out the flames, but had to evacuate the garage and phone for help, Phillips said.

"He had some stuff in the garage and some gas cans in there that helped spread the flames," Phillips said Monday. "Thankfully, no one was injured, but he lost a lot of stuff."

Route 59 was shut down while fire crews extinguished the blaze, Phillis said. Firefighters had to stretch hose lines across the busy roadway to bring water to the house.

The fire extinguished at 5:45 p.m., Phillips said.

Officials did not have a damage estimate, but Phillips said the garage was completely destroyed.