Carol Stream chief commends firefighters for response to back-to-back blazes

Over a span of about five hours Sunday, Carol Stream firefighters battled a grease fire in an apartment building and a garage fire that spread to a home and displaced a family.

The grease fire started in a kitchen and spread to the attic, living room and hallway leading to the bedrooms of a third-floor unit in an apartment building on the 100 block of Elk Trail.

Firefighters were called to the three-story building at 3:32 p.m. and extinguished the blaze in less than 30 minutes, according to a news release Monday.

No injuries were reported but several apartments were left with smoke and water damage.

Carol Stream police, the Red Cross and officials from the village's community development and social services departments also responded to assist and relocate occupants.

Then, shortly after 8 p.m., firefighters were called to a two-story house on the 1000 block of Oakwood Court where they found heavy fire in an attached garage.

Two young children who were in the home with their mother were checked by paramedics, but were not taken to a hospital, authorities said. Firefighters and paramedics rescued two dogs from the smoke-filled home.

The fire damaged a sailboat parked in the driveway and an SUV and extended into the family room and walls of the second-floor bedrooms.

Firefighters also felt a couple of "ground-shaking explosions" in the garage, likely due to propane tanks.

"This was just another example of firefighters encountering the many hazards of the profession," Fire Chief Bob Hoff said in a statement. "There is no routine fire. Our troops did a fantastic job."

The home was left uninhabitable. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

Damage estimates were not immediately available for either fire.

Roughly 35 firefighters and EMS personnel from Carol Stream, West Chicago, Wheaton, Bloomingdale and Hanover Park assisted with both fires and remained at the scene of each for about two hours.