Monday, March 2, 2015

EXTENSIVE FIRE IN PARK RIDGE, ILLINOIS HOME STARTED BY CHEMICAL-SOAKED RAGS DURING HOME RENOVATION; A CASE OF SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION




FEBRUARY 27, 2015

PARK RIDGE, ILLINOIS

A case of spontaneous combustion is believed to have sparked a fire that extensively damaged the interior of a Park Ridge home.

Firefighters responding to a call of an odor of smoke detected on the 100 block of North Delphia Avenue shortly before 6 a.m., Feb. 27 discovered the fire in a vacant two-story brick home just one block west at 104 N. Lincoln Ave., said Park Ridge Fire Chief Jeff Sorensen.

Sorensen said a pile of rags used to apply a staining chemical as part of renovation work in the home likely started on fire, burning a hole in the dining room floor and falling into the basement below.

"What happened is they used a bunch of rags for staining and when you pile those rags up you can potentially have spontaneous combustion," Sorensen said.

Through the exterior of the home did not appear to have sustained damage apart from windows that were broken by firefighters to ventilate the structure, Sorensen described the damage inside as "pretty extensive," and estimated it at approximately $150,000.

Matt Laske, who identified himself as the brother of one of the home's owners, said the house had just been purchased about one week earlier and some minor renovations had been taking place inside. No one was living in the house at the time of the fire, he said.

No injuries were reported.

"It got a huge head-start on us," Sorensen said of the fire. "My best guess is that it was smoldering for several hours."

When firefighters responded to the 100 block of Delphia for the reported smell of smoke and found no signs of fire inside the caller's house, an incident commander speculated it was coming from an area to the west. An ambulance crew sent out to check adjacent areas then spotted heavy smoke coming out of the house at 104 N. Lincoln, Sorensen said.

Firefighters were on the scene for about four hours.

Assisting the Park Ridge Fire Department at the scene and by providing station coverage for additional emergency calls were crews from the Niles, Rosemont, Des Plaines, Morton Grove Fire, Wheeling, and Elk Grove Fire Departments and the Norwood Park and North Maine Fire Protection Districts.

Home renovations were also blamed for a fire inside an unoccupied home on the 300 block of North Merrill Street in December.
Source: www.chicagotribune.com