Historic house burns in Hinsdale
A house believed to be one of the oldest in Hinsdale sustained "significant and extensive" damage during a fire on Wednesday, authorities said.
Firefighters said they responded about 3:32 p.m. to a 911 call from contractors who were working on the home earlier in the day on the 300 block of East Sixth Street.
When emergency crews arrived, light smoke was showing from the second-floor balcony along the west side of the house. No one was home, but the contractors were there.
Firefighters had to force their way into the house to find the source of the blaze. The fire already had spread into the walls and other spaces throughout the structure, officials said.
Crews searched the home and rescued the family dog unharmed.
A total of 20 fire companies and nearly 100 firefighters were at the scene. The fire was extinguished about 8 p.m.
No adjacent properties were damaged and no one was injured.
Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the blaze.
"It's heartbreaking. That house has been a mainstay in Hinsdale for 130 years," Julie Laux, a neighbor, told ABC 7 Chicago. "We've just lost a piece of history. We've lost a way to connect to our past.
"This is elegant and gracious and just a reminder of when life was so much different than it is right now."