Plywood, heater spark construction site fire in Naperville

A row of townhouses under construction caught fire Friday morning in Naperville, authorities said.

Two sheets of plywood that had been covering a window fell onto a heating unit and sparked the blaze on the 800 block of Paisley Court, said Tom Moran, bureau chief with the Naperville Fire Department.

No one was injured in the fire, which began about 5:25 a.m. and was spotted by a resident of the nearby 800 block of Shandrew Drive, Moran said.

The fire affected the middle of one row of townhouses and was found on the third floor.

Moran said firefighters put out the flames quickly and kept them to the area where the fire started. Twenty-five firefighters responded on 11 emergency vehicles from the Naperville and Aurora departments, while the Plainfield Fire Protection District covered for Naperville's station 7.

Moran said it's typical for construction companies to leave a propane-fed heater of sorts, called a heating salamander, running at building sites to help drywall cure during cold weather. The heaters don't typically cause problems, but in this case, he said the fire started when the drywall fell onto the device.

A building inspector from the city's department of transportation, engineering and development is working with builders to identify damage to the site and any repairs that must be made before construction resumes.

The townhouses are part of the Sedgwick subdivision being built on roughly 8 acres near Ogden Avenue and Shandrew Drive by M/I Homes. The city council gave final approval to the project, with 65 townhouses in 13 buildings, in October.