Fire rips through Downers Grove home

A Downers Grove family was forced from its home Wednesday when fire raced through an attached garage and into the living quarters.

No one was injured, authorities said, but damage to the two-story house on the 5000 block of Fairhaven Court was estimated around $300,000.

The accidental blaze started in a car parked in an attached garage about 11:38 a.m. and quickly spread through the walls into the upper level of the house, said Marsha Giesler, Downers Grove Fire Department public information officer.

The owner was the only person home when the fire erupted and he escaped unharmed along with the family dog, Giesler said.

She said firefighters arrived to find flames extending from the garage into the house and thick smoke spreading through the neighborhood.

Firefighters spent more than an hour at the scene and had to take down several walls to battle the blaze.

The home is uninhabitable and the family is staying with friends in the area, authorities said.

Downers Grove firefighters were assisted by crews from Lombard, Lemont, Tri-State, Lisle-Woodridge, Oak Brook, Darien-Woodridge, Naperville and Westmont along with Downers Grove police.