Group home rebuilt after fire; residents thrilled to be back

Just more than a year after it was deemed uninhabitable after a fire, residents of 142 Wood St. in West Chicago are moving back into their newly restored home.

A county-owned housing facility for adults with mental disabilities reopened Wednesday during a ceremony that attracted city and county officials, fire personnel and staff from the DuPage County Health Department.

The six male residents displaced by the fire, which struck on Sept. 11, 2007, are slated to move back into the house next week. Since the blaze, the men were divided into two groups of three and placed in Lombard homes also operated by the county.

"It is a great moment that we will be back together," said Phil Oziemkowski, a resident. "Everything is new and, so far, it looks wonderful."

The house was built 1867 and much of it has been restored to its original style. Maureen McHugh, executive director of the DuPage County Health Department, said some structural items like arched doorways couldn't be replicated, but workers were able to complete other upgrades, such as a switching from hot water radiator heat to a furnace and installing energy-efficient windows.

"There are some things like old wood windows do have historic value, but they aren't functional," McHugh said.

The damages to the building totaled approximately $600,000, according to county officials and the fire that caused them was deemed accidental by the DuPage County Fire Investigative Task Force. No one was injured in the blaze. West Chicago Fire Chief Ron Ackerman said the fire originated on an exterior deck of the house, near a trash container.

"It looked as if a cigarette was headed for that receptacle and missed," Ackerman said.

When the six residents return to the house next week, along with two others who are slated to join them at the end of the year, health department officials said the smoking policy will mirror Illinois'. No smoking will be allowed indoors and all smokers must be at least 15 feet from an entrance. In addition, every room in the home is currently fitted with a fire alarm.

And while the residents of 142 Wood look forward to returning home, county officials are also proud that the 141-year house has been restored and improved.

"We took something that could have been very negative and turned it into a positive," McHugh said.