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Fire forces families from Elgin apartment building

Six Elgin families were forced from their apartments by two fires Wednesday, but no one was hurt.

The first blaze was discovered shortly before 3 p.m. in a building on the 300 block of Kathleen Drive. There was smoke in a basement laundry room, and fire was in the walls and on the second floor, Fire Battalion Chief Robb Cagann said.

Crews quickly extinguished the blaze, but apartments on the first and second floors were damaged. Five families were displaced and were assisted by the Red Cross in finding alternate housing, he said.

The second fire was after 8 p.m. in the living room of a home in the 1300 block of Royal Boulevard. It caused smoke damage throughout the home, which was deemed uninhabitable, Cagann said. One occupant was evaluated for smoke inhalation but refused to be taken to the hospital, he said.

That family was housed for the night in a local hotel while the landlord secured alternate housing, Cagann said.

The Red Cross is called when there are large-scale fires and can better assist large groups of people, Cagann added.

Loss was estimated between $80,000 and $100,000 for the fire on Kathleen Drive, and between $60,000 and $80,000 for the fire on Royal Boulevard, fire officials said.

• Daily Herald staff writer Elena Ferrarin contributed to this story.

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