Official probe suspicious house fire in Elgin

Elgin police and the Illinois State Fire Marshall are investigating a suspicious early-morning house fire that left a residence uninhabitable.

Elgin firefighters were called to the 600 block of Sherman Avenue at 3:48 a.m. and arrived two minutes later to find the back porch fully involved with fire and fire extending into the house, Elgin Fire Captain Dave Schmidt said.

A mother and children were home at the time of the fire; the mother woke up to the smoke alarm, discovered the fire and noticed the house was starting to fill up with smoke, Schmidt said.

"Thankfully the smoke detectors were there and they were working. I think they would have been in trouble if they were in there much longer," Schmidt said.

The state fire marshall brought in an accelerant-sniffing dog as part of the investigation, Schmidt said.

The fire damaged the first and second floors. Firefighters got the fire under control in under 40 minutes. Damage is estimated at a total of $105,000 with about $80,000 of damage to the building and $25,000 of damage to the contents of the house, Schmidt said.