Schaumburg apartment fire cause likely electrical

Schaumburg firefighters have pinpointed the cause of Wednesday morning's apartment fire as an electrical malfunction, but still hope to further narrow it down to a particular device.

Twelve units at 1221 Crabtree Lane in the Legend Park Apartments remain uninhabitable Thursday, though the restoration of utilities would make six of them habitable almost immediately, Schaumburg Deputy Fire Chief William Spencer said.

No one was injured in the fire. Damage is estimated at $500,000.

Some of the displaced residents, including a few schoolchildren, spent the night in the apartment complex's clubhouse, and may do so for at least a second night as well, property manager Deanna Stein said.

The Red Cross remains onsite to assist and feed these displaced residents, Stein said.

Spencer said the fire appeared to have started in a first-floor unit before spreading, mostly upward.

The 12 affected units make up the center section of the 32-unit building. Though the entire building was initially evacuated, residents of the side sections have returned, Stein said.

A fire in a different section of the same building started exactly 12 years ago today, on Jan. 31, 1996, former resident Bridget Duren of Roselle said. The cause of that blaze was a boiler.