No one hurt in Glendale Heights fire

No one was injured in a late-night fire Thursday that caused the evacuation of three townhouse units in Glendale Heights.

Bloomingdale Fire Protection District Chief Dave Christensen said firefighters responded at 9:55 p.m. to the 300 block of Thorncliff Drive.

Crews arrived to find heavy fire in the unit, Christensen said, and a report of one person still inside the burning townhouse.

That resident escaped unharmed as firefighters prepared to enter the building.

"The occupant was awake and smelled the fire earlier, but couldn't discover its place of origin," Christensen said. "He smelled it again later, saw the fire, and got out."

Christensen said firefighters evacuated the units on either side of the townhouse and attacked the fire inside with the help of seven neighboring fire protection districts. He said the blaze was under control by midnight.

Christensen said the cause of the blaze remains unknown, but it appeared to begin in the ceiling above the furnace.

The occupants of all three units were displaced. Christensen said roughly 75 percent of the unit where the fire began was destroyed.