Two dogs rescued from Ingleside house fire

Firefighters rescued two dogs from a fire that heavily damaged a home Thursday night in Ingleside, officials said.

The Fox Lake Fire Protection District responded at about 8:50 p.m. to a house fire on the 36000 block of Lake Avenue, Deputy Chief Ed Lescher said.

When firefighters arrived flames were showing from three sides of the building, he said. The residents were home when the fire started in the front of the house and evacuated safely.

The area has no hydrants, so the fire was elevated to a Mutual Aid Box Alarm System 2nd level call to neighboring fire departments that brought in five water tenders, Lescher said.

Firefighters battled the fire from the inside and rescued the animals from the basement.

"It was very windy last night, so the high winds helped fan the fire and hampered our firefighting efforts," Lescher said.

The fire was under control in about 30 minutes, and firefighters cleared the scene by 11:45 p.m., he said.

"We pulled the dogs out and gave them oxygen," he said. "The homeowner transported both dogs to the animal hospital, and before we left the scene, we heard the dogs were doing OK."

The damage to the house was "pretty significant," but no estimate was available yet, he said.

Fox Lake fire officials attributed the fire to a discarded cigarette and consider it to be an accident.