Coroner IDs LITH Man Found Dead During House Fire

LAKE IN THE HILLS, IL — The McHenry County Coroner's Office has identified a 54-year-old Lake in the Hills man found dead in a house during a fire over the weekend as William E. Andres III.

Olivia A. Zednick, chief deputy coroner, told Patch in an email response the coroner's office is awaiting toxicology results before determining Andres' cause of death. Meanwhile, the state fire's marshal is assisting the Lake in the Hills Police Department and the Huntley Fire Department with their probe into the Saturday night blaze.

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Authorities were first called to the scene of the fire at the two-story duplex in the 3000 block of Impressions Drive just before 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

Huntley Fire Protection District firefighters first arriving at the blaze immediately began searching the home after witnesses reported that there may still be someone inside the building, according to the news release. Firefighters found Andres' body on the second floor of the home.

Firefighters searched the rest of the house and did not find anyone else inside the duplex.
It took firefighters about 15 minutes to get the blaze, which had spread through the first and second stories of the duplex, under control and another 30 minutes to completely extinguish the fire.

The fire caused around $200,000 in damages, and home has been deemed uninhabitable. Fire officials say the home had smoke detectors but it's not clear if they were working at the time of the blaze.