Dispatcher's tip, closed door help contain Naperville garage fire

Naperville firefighters are crediting a dispatcher for helping a resident prevent further damage to her home when something in the garage caught fire Saturday morning, authorities said.

In her 911 call, the resident of a house on the 900 block of Darius Lane asked the dispatcher whether she should open the garage door to give firefighters faster access to the flames.

Jim Kubinski, the fire department's bureau chief of emergency medical services, said he's grateful the dispatcher's ready answer was a definitive "no."

"That large opening would have given an influx of oxygen that would have had that fire 10 times the size by the time we arrived," Kubinski said.

Without oxygen from the overhead garage door, the door from the garage to the house or a third service door leading outside, Kubinski said the fire stayed relatively small and containable.

Crews arriving five minutes after the resident's 10:22 a.m. call extinguished the fire before it could spread to the house or affect any nearby structures, Kubinski said. An inspector from Naperville's transportation, engineering and development department deemed the house habitable.

Kubinski said the resident who reported the fire was able to evacuate without injuries. The other resident was not home and returned later.

The fire's cause has been ruled accidental, but investigators still are working to determine exactly how it sparked, Kubinski said.

Kubinski said the closed-door tip is a safety precaution he wants to promote. Fires need oxygen to grow and spread, he said, so the department advises people to shut doors while evacuating.

Even without an open door, firefighters have the tools to get to where they need to be.

"We're firemen," Kubinski said. "We'll find the fire. "