Fire Damages La Grange Park House During Storm

LA GRANGE PARK, IL – Downed power lines during a storm appeared to have caused a fire early Wednesday evening in a La Grange Park neighborhood, officials said.

About 6:30 p.m., La Grange Park firefighters were called to a house in the 900 block of Meadowcrest Road. Power lines were arcing and burning, according to a La Grange Park Fire Department news release.

The house's occupants were allowed to stay inside at first, but then were ordered to leave after the back of the structure caught fire, the release said.

Firefighters entered with a hose to keep the fire from spreading. Shortly after, though, parts of the house appeared to suddenly become highly energized, the fire department said.

This forced firefighters to retreat, move to safety and wait for ComEd to arrive, the release said. ComEd showed up about 7:10 p.m., cutting power to the area.

That de-energized the downed lines and house, the department said. The firefighters then put out the fire.

Damage was estimated at $100,000. No one was reported injured.

Initial reports were that the power lines came down because of a lightning strike, but that remains unconfirmed.

Firefighters from a number of departments responded, as is the procedure for structure fires. La Grange Park firefighters got there within two minutes of the call.