Fire guts Elgin-area auto repair shop, damages 20 vehicles

Fire tore through a large auto repair facility near Elgin Saturday evening, gutting the structure and damaging about 20 vehicles, authorities said Sunday.

Barlett Fire Protection District firefighters responding to a 6:09 p.m. report of a fire in the area of Lambert and Spaulding roads arrived at 6:15 p.m. to find the facility well involved with fire and approximately 20 cars next to the building in flames, according to fire officials.

The first fire crews pulled a hose line to protect vehicles and set up an aerial water operation to extinguish the fire from outside the building. Other firefighters stretched 600 feet of supply line to a fire hydrant and supplied water to the aerial truck.

A second aerial operation was set up on the west side of the facility due to the limited accessibility of the structure. The location of the fire and limited access for firefighters to operate created challenging firefighting conditions, officials said.

The fire was declared under control at 8:42 p.m., and no civilians or firefighters were injured. Damage estimates were not available Sunday, but the business was left uninhabitable, according to fire officials.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by Bartlett Fire Protection District investigators.

The fire was fought by 37 firefighters, staffing five fire engines, four ladder trucks, and five ambulances, officials said. Units from the South Elgin, Elgin, Streamwood, Hanover Park, and Fox River Countryside fire departments were among the initial responders, and Bartlett police and Cook County sheriff's deputies assisted at the scene with traffic and crowd control.