Naperville's fourth fire in a month could be suspicious
Naperville firefighters braved cold, snow and wind, but no one was injured Monday night as they battled the city's fourth fire in the past month at a medical business on Ogden Avenue near Columbia Street, authorities said.
"It was a tough night to fight a fire last night," Bureau Chief George Hyland said Tuesday. "We were up there cutting holes in the building, which is not an easy thing to do in any conditions, in blowing snow and cold."
Hyland said crews put out the flames in about 20 minutes after arriving on scene at Transitions Home Medical Group, 710 E. Ogden Ave. Now the fire, which was reported at 9:40 p.m., is under investigation by a task force from DuPage County because it could be suspicious.
"There were some things that led them to call in extra investigators," Hyland said.
As investigators work to determine what caused the blaze and whether it was intentionally set, Hyland said firefighters are not sure why the city is experiencing this recent string of fires.
There aren't many similarities between the cases, except that no injuries to firefighters or the public have resulted. The fires took place Dec. 17 on the 100 block of North Sleight Street, Jan. 2 on the 2000 block of Aurora Avenue and Jan. 8 on the 100 block of North Loomis Street before Monday's fire on Ogden.
Two were at businesses and two were at houses. Two were caused by electrical problems, one by a mechanical issue with an overheated fan. One of the houses held a single family, while the other was used as a group home for teenage girls under the care of a nonprofit family service group. The group home was able to reopen within a week. But 10 days after Furnish 123 at 2639 Aurora Ave., Suite 103, caught fire Jan. 2, the store expects to remain closed for another three weeks.
As "working structure fires" in fire department speak, each blaze drew a heavy response of 12 Naperville Fire Department vehicles and 25 or 26 personnel.
With Monday's fire extinguished, Hyland said the department hopes residents will follow prevention tips to avoid any future fires.
Space heaters and dryers should be turned off and candles blown out before leaving the house, Hyland said. Other suburban fire chiefs recommend keeping chimneys clean with yearly maintenance, not using ovens to heat living spaces and not using blow torches to thaw frozen pipes.
After the Dec. 17 fire in Naperville was caused by an overheated bathroom vent fan, Hyland said he encourages people to clean out such units because they often get clogged with dust. Dusty fans can smolder for a while before bursting into flame, but Hyland said preventing that is simple.
"If you have a bathroom attic fan, don't leave it on forever," he said. "From time to time, take the cover off those things and vacuum them because they get full of dust."