Basement fire damages Waukegan home

A fire at a Waukegan home undergoing renovations erased any work done on the basement as smoke and flames filled the bottom floor.

The Waukegan Fire Department responded to a 911 call from a neighbor about 11 a.m. Thursday to a house on the 400 block of Berwick Boulevard, said Batallion Chief Ricco Farrell.

Firefighters arrived to heavy smoke and flames billowing from the basement of the quad-level house, which was undergoing a rehab to finish the basement, Farrell said.

No one was in the home during the fire, but workers had been in the basement Thursday morning before the fire started, Farrell said.

Officials said the basement and first floor of the home were “significantly damaged,” but they did not have a damage estimate Thursday.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control within 15 minutes of arriving, Farrell said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but Farrell said it may have been a careless act by one of the workers.