One dead in early morning house fire in Island Lake

A 56-year old woman died early Monday morning in a house fire in the 200 block of South Shore Drive in Island Lake, Wauconda Fire District officials said.

Wauconda Fire District crews arrived on the scene at 3:39 a.m. to find heavy fire coming through the roof of the one-story house.

Firefighters found a woman later identified as Joanne Till inside the house. She was pulled from the structure, but lifesaving efforts were not successful and she woman was pronounced dead on the scene, officials said.

An autopsy was done Monday afternoon, but a cause of death was not determined pending a toxicology report, according to Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner Orlando Portillo.

"We have to find out what her CO (carbon monoxide) level was," he said. The tests should take about 10 days, he added.

No other injuries were reported. Till was the sole occupant of the house at the time the fire broke out, fire officials said.

The fire was under control by 4:09 a.m.

Wauconda Fire District Investigators and Illinois State Fire Marshal are investigating the cause of the fire. Nunda, Cary, Fox River Grove, Wonder Lake, Lake Zurich and Countryside fire departments assisted at the scene.

No further information was available, although firefighters were in the neighborhood Monday asking residents if their smoke detectors work and helping to replace batteries in detectors as needed.