Fire destroys abandoned house in Cook Co. forest preserve

An abandoned watchman's residence in a Cook County forest preserve near Barrington saw its scheduled demolition moved up a few weeks when it mysteriously burned down this week.

Firefighters were called to the house at 44 Dundee Road at 6:55 p.m. Monday, Barrington Deputy Fire Chief John Feit said.

While still on the scene, firefighters received confirmation of the house's status as abandoned and slated for demolition, which affected decisions as to how much risk to put the firefighters to, Feit said.

The blaze was extinguished within 45 minutes, and although the structure was totaled, the fire loss was considered to be zero.

The cause for the fire was ruled "suspicious undetermined." There was nothing left of the structure to look for a source of origin, and with a zero fire loss, there was no value in expending resources on further investigation, Feit said.

Such watchman's residences are found throughout the forest preserve district and have been used by staff to use to keep an eye on the land after-hours, Feit said.

"This one was clearly abandoned," he added. "This one was scheduled to be demolished within the next 30 days."