Brush fire melts siding on Round Lake Beach townhouses

Two Round Lake Beach townhouses narrowly escaped serious damage Wednesday afternoon from a brush fire, fire officials said.

The fire started in an undeveloped wetlands area just before 3 p.m. between Rollins Road and Meadow Green Lane, said Tony Carraro, a captain with the Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District.

The fire melted the siding off the townhouses on Meadow Green Lane that back up to the field area, but it did not spread inside, Carraro said.

"That was our first priority - to get to those townhouses and get the heat off them - and then go control the wild area fire," Carraro said. "That's always the priority when you have a wild area burning is the structures around it."

The fire burned about 7 acres populated by cattails and tall grasses, he said.

Nobody was injured. Firefighters remained on the scene until around 5 p.m. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by Round Lake Beach police and the fire marshal.

Fox Lake, Lake Villa, Grayslake, Wauconda, Antioch and Mundelein fire departments assisted.