Fire causes $75,000 damage in Elgin

A couple was left without a home after they tried to thaw a frozen water pump with heaters, officials said.

Elgin firefighters arrived about 1:40 p.m. Monday to find thick, black smoke coming from a mobile home on the 900 block of McLean Boulevard. Flames had spread throughout the home by the time firefighters arrived, officials said in a news release.

The homeowners turned on a propane heater and a space heater and then left the home, Fire Battalion Chief Terence M. Bruce said. They were outside, uninjured, when the fire department arrived, he said.

The fire was extinguished in about 20 minutes and firefighters worked for an additional hour to ensure there were no hidden fires.

Damage was estimated at more than $75,000, and the home was red-tagged after being deemed uninhabitable.

People should only use space heaters, not propane heaters, to try to thaw frozen pumps, but should never leave them unattended, Bruce said.

“If they were there at the time and it caught on fire, they could have extinguished it quickly,” he said, adding the couple didn't have homeowners insurance.