Dog, Lizards Rescued from Aurora House Fire

AURORA, IL — A dog and two lizards were rescued from an Aurora house fire that broke out shortly before 5 p.m. June 25.

Aurora Fire Department Lt. Jim Rhodes said crews were called to a structure fire in the 300 block of Center Avenue and found a two-story home with heavy smoke coming from the roof.

Sign up for the Patch newsletter

A resident stated that the power went out upstairs around 30 minutes before the fire started. The fire was noticed when one of the residents was leaving the home to run an errand and saw smoke coming from the roof area, Rhodes said. There were a total of five people home when the fire occurred and they all self-evacuated prior to the fire department’s arrival.

Firefighters rescued a dog and two lizards from the home, Rhodes said. One firefighter was taken to a local hospital for heat exhaustion.

It took 35 firefighters around 90 minutes to put out the blaze.

Because the home was deemed uninhabitable, the Red Cross and Victim Services were called to help the victims of the fire. Total fire damage loss was around $140,000.