Grease fires damage Naperville apartment, restaurant

Two separate grease fires in Naperville rendered an apartment and a restaurant uninhabitable Sunday.

The first fire occurred shortly before 3 p.m., when firefighters responded to a report of an appliance fire at an 18-unit apartment complex on the 1400 block of Fairway Drive.

Emergency crews arrived within 5 minutes and began evacuating residents. They located a small fire in one of the units that was consuming the kitchen cabinets. It took about 10 minutes to extinguish.

The apartment was rendered uninhabitable, but the residents of all other units in the complex were allowed to return to their apartments. Fire officials said the fire began when grease ignited during cooking. There were no injuries.

Shortly after that fire, another blaze erupted in the kitchen of a restaurant in a strip mall on the 1500 block of North Aurora Road. Emergency crews arrived within 2 minutes and found moderate smoke inside the restaurant. The fire, which began when grease ignited during cooking, was already extinguished by a fire safety system over the cooking area.

The fire still managed to cause extensive damage to the hood system and some areas of the roof. That left the restaurant uninhabitable. Neither fire, nor smoke, traveled to other parts of the building or other businesses. The remainder of the strip mall remained open for business.