lightning strike causes house fire in area without hydrants

From the Chicago Tribune:

South Barrington police say a mother and her two young children are safe after lightning struck their home this afternoon, starting a fire.

The incident took place around noon in the 0-100 block of Terra Vita Drive in South Barrington, police said—with the family inside—and initially was reported as an explosion.

He said the now-displaced family safely left the two-story, wood-and-brick house without help. No one was hurt but the house appears to be destroyed and has heavy damage to the attic, second floor and parts of the first floor, Deegan said.

Units were called to the scene and found smoke and fire from the roof. Companies initially made an interior attack but were reportedly forced to retreat due to insufficient water. At one point before all of the initial units arrived on-scene, there was some sort of explosion (possibly a smoke explosion) which blew out the front door. Fortunately, no one was injured as companies were preparing to make entry at that time. The alarm was upgraded to a box alarm and the attack went defensive. The house is located on a dead end street with no hydrants, just off Barrington Road.

The Still Alarm and Box Alarm brought: two engines and a 75′ quint from Barrington, a tower ladder from Palatine, tankers/tenders from Palatine Rural, Nunda Rural, Bartlett, Wauconda, and East Dundee. Additional engines came from Lake Zurich, Long Grove, Hoffman Estates, Fox River Grove, and Algonquin-Lake in the Hills. Ambulances came from Arlington Heights and Buffalo Grove along with a squad from Cary.

Larry Shapiro was at the scene and submitted several images.

Barrington & Countryside FPD fights house fire

Barrington Engine 2, in the driveway, was the first engine to arrive. Larry Shapiro photo

Fire seen from the rear venting through the roof and is also visible through the upper floor window. Larry Shapiro photo

Barrington Engine 2, the first engine on the scene, went into the driveway. Palatine Rural Tanker 36 arrived soon after and backed into the driveway to nurse Engine 2 until the tanker shuttle could be setup. One portable tank was dropped in front of Tanker 36 and two were dropped near Barrington Engine 1 just past the house.

These engines would eventually supply a master stream from the Palatine tower ladder and several hand lines in the rear sector.

Firefighters from Palatine Tower 85 direct their master stream at the fire. Larry Shapiro photo

Palatine Rural Tanker 36 was nursing Barrington Engine 2 in the driveway. Larry Shapiro photo

The alarm was upgraded to a 2nd Alarm for tenders after it became apparent that more units were needed to maintain a constant water supply. Tankers/tenders came from South Elgin, Crystal Lake, and Fox Lake. With the exception of Palatine Rural Tanker 36 which was stationary, the other tankers each made at least four runs each to refill and dump.

Firefighters stretch the LDH from Barrington Road to the Palatine Rural tanker. Larry Shapiro photo

Long Grove Engine 55 setup the portable tanks on Barrington Road for the water supply. Larry Shapiro photo

Two tankers dump their water into the portable tanks simultaneously. Larry Shapiro photo

Fox River Grove FPD American LaFrance Eagle fire engine

The Fox River Grove engine replace the Long Grove engine during the operation. Larry Shapiro photo

Three portable tanks were dropped and tied together on Barrington Road to provide for a quicker turnaround. Long Grove Engine 55 drafted from these tanks and supplied the palatine Rural tanker through a moderate lay of 5″ LDH.