Apartment blaze remains under investigation

Authorities continue to investigate an Elgin fire in the 300 block of Kathleen Drive that displaced 24 people Friday night but injured no one.

The apparent stove fire at the three-story apartment building forced firefighters to evacuate the residents from the building because the blaze, while contained to the kitchen, spread to three other apartments, authorities said.

“What happened is there was fire in the walls and floors basically involving four different apartments,” Elgin Fire Department Captain Dick Cummings said Saturday. “We had to pull all the drywall down to extinguish the fire in the walls.”

The Elgin Fire Department was called to building at 9:35 p.m., and the fire was brought under control in about 10 minutes, Battalion Chief Bryan McMahan said. While the four apartments were “red-tagged,” the rest of the building was safe for occupancy, he said.

Officials from the American Red Cross were assisting those displaced by the fire.

Fire personnel from South Elgin assisted.

Ÿ Daily Herald staff writer Christopher Placek contributed to this story.