House fire on Fox Lake island difficult to combat

A house fire on a Fox Lake island Friday caused significant damage, but no one was hurt.

Firefighters say that around 1:52 p.m. they responded to a call on Cedar Island on Pistakee Lake for a home on fire. When they arrived, heavy fire was showing from the house.

In order to reach the residence -- which is now vacant, and is primarily used for a summer home -- firefighters had to take turns shuttling there on two air boats.

The home has no address or lot number, but is not habitable after the fire. Damage is estimated at $230,000.

Efforts to put out the blaze were hampered due to no water supply, Dep. Chief Larry VanHoorelbeke said.

"We used chain saws to cut through 13-15 inches of ice in order to set up portable pumps," he said. "Once water was established, took us a good hour to get the fire under control."

The fire is still under investigation.