Firefighter suffers minor injury battling Barrington Hills blaze

A firefighter suffered minor injuries battling wind-driven flames that left a Barrington Hills home uninhabitable Saturday, fire officials said.

According to Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District officials, firefighters were called to the 0-100 block of County Line Road at about 11:07 a.m. Saturday for a report of smoke at the rear of the home.

First arriving crews witnessed heavy smoke and fire conditions coming from the second floor of the two-story structure, officials said. They immediately began fighting the fire, and the response was upgraded by command to a Mutual Aid Box Alarm System box alarm.

Despite the strong winds, firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze and contain damage to the home's second floor, fire officials said. The home was determined to be uninhabitable due to smoke, heat, and water damage.

The injured firefighter was treated and released at the scene, and the property's owner was not home at the time of the fire.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, officials said.

Area fire departments and fire districts assisting included Barrington, Cary, Fox River Grove, Wauconda, Mount Prospect, Wheeling, Lake Forest, East Dundee, Long Grove, Carpentersville, Hoffman Estates, Nunda, Des Plaines, Streamwood, Deerfield, Wheeling, Lake Zurich, Rutland-Dundee, Algonquin-Lake in the Hills, Schaumburg, Grayslake, Palatine, Round Lake, Huntley, Inverness, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods, Bartlett, Fox Lake, Libertyville, Buffalo Grove, McHenry, Lake Villa, Crystal Lake, and Countryside.