Man and 2 children escape Elgin house fire through windows

An adult and two children were able to escape a burning Elgin home Sunday morning by climbing out through bedroom windows, according to fire officials.

A male resident of the home on the 100 block of South Weston Avenue was in his bedroom when he smelled smoke about 7 a.m., Elgin Fire Department Batallion Chief Timothy Michaels said.

The man climbed out the bedroom window of the ranch-style home and banged on the windows of his children's bedrooms to wake them up, Michaels said.

The children, ages 5 and 10, were able to escape through their windows unharmed before firefighters arrived at the scene, Michaels said.

“Luckily they had their doors closed,” Michaels said.

The blaze caused extensive damage to the home and is thought to have started in the living room, according to fire officials.

When firefighters arrived on the scene two minutes after receiving a 911 call, a large portion of the home was engulfed in flames, Michaels said.

It took firefighters about 10 minutes to bring the blaze under control, but the fire had caused an estimated $100,000 damage to the home and left it uninhabitable.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation Sunday night, Michaels said.