Dryer vent fire in Elgin sends three to hospital

Editor's note: This story was corrected by eliminating all references to the Housing Authority of Elgin. Elgin Fire Department officials incorrectly had stated the building at 104 S. State St. is part of the agency.

By Elena Ferrarin

eferrarin@dailyherald.com

A fire that started in a dryer vent Friday morning sent three people to the hospital in Elgin, authorities said.

Three others were treated at the scene after the blaze in the laundry room of a first-floor unit of a senior housing complex 104 S. State St., Elgin Fire Department Battalion Chief Terry Bruce said. All were residents of the building.

Elgin firefighters arrived at 7:50 a.m. - one minute after the call - and extinguished the fire almost immediately.

Bruce said Friday night he didn't know if those transported to the hospital had been released. "All exposures were minor," he said.

The first and second floors of the complex were evacuated for precautionary reasons, as the smoke spread outside the unit.

The residents of the unit include maintenance workers for the building, Bruce said. One of them started the dryer Friday morning and left the apartment, he said. Another resident was in bed and heard the unit's smoke detector go off, but thought the sound came from outside the unit and didn't check it out, Bruce said.

It was only after shelving above the dryer became engulfed and crashed down that the resident got out of bed, he said. "Lesson No. 1 - whenever you hear a fire alarm go off, get up and check it out," he said.

The fire started because lint had backed up inside the dryer vent, which was pinched by boxes in the shelving unit, Bruce said.

"They removed lint from the trap but did not check the flexible vent," he said. "That's lesson No. 2."

The building doesn't have an upgraded alarm system, which means that individual units' smoke detectors are not connected to the building's alarm system, Bruce said.

"That was a three- to five-minute delay, minimum, before the rest of the building was notified," he said.

Elgin Fire Chief John Fahy said the building was among those the city took to court last year for failing to comply with fire safety requirements.

"They have a system there, they just don't have an upgraded system - and that's what the code requires," he said.

The building owners have until Jan. 31 to submit an upgraded alarm and sprinkler plan, and a schedule for the work to be completed, Fahy said.

The owners said earlier this week they would submit plans by Friday, but that didn't happen, he said.

Damage was estimated at $15,000, according to the Elgin Fire Department, and the apartment where the fire started was left uninhabitable.