Quickly spreading fire leaves house uninhabitable in Naperville

Two houses were damaged - one, left uninhabitable - after a fire that started in one spread to the other late Friday in Naperville, authorities said.

Firefighters were dispatched to the 2100 block of Horncastle Lane at 11:43 p.m. after a homeowner called 911 to report the house was filling up with smoke.

But when the first firetruck got there about five minutes later, crews saw fire not only engulfing the entire front of the two-story house, but it was beginning to spread to the neighboring house, fire department officials said Saturday.

All seven residents of the first house were able to safely evacuate before firefighters arrived, and there were no reported injuries to any other residents or firefighters who battled the blaze, officials said.

Fire crews used several hose lines as part of their simultaneous operation - what they called an "offensive" attack on the second house to quickly extinguish the fire and limit the amount of smoke and heat damage, and a "defensive" approach on the main fire building due to the large volume of fire that weakened the structure.

Crews began attacking the main fire from outside, but once the main body was knocked down, they carefully made their way inside to extinguish remaining hot spots, authorities said.

By 12:06 a.m., both fires were deemed under control. Fire companies remained on scene another hour to put out hot spots.

City building inspectors deemed the house where the fire started to be uninhabitable, but the neighboring house is habitable.

Fire department investigators estimated the fire caused more than $400,000 in damages. A cause was still under investigation Saturday.