Naperville FD Extinguishes 'Suspicious' Fire At Inland Circle Apartment Building

Press release from the City of Naperville:

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — At 3:57 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21, Naperville’s Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) received a fire alarm notification from a multifamily residential unit located on the 700 block of Inland Circle. A still alarm response was immediately dispatched. Shortly after the initial dispatch a 911 call was received from a resident stating there was a fire somewhere in the rear of the multifamily residential building. The officer on the first responding engine upgraded the response to a general alarm assignment.

Engine Company 4 arrived on scene within 4 minutes of receiving the call and reported nothing showing upon initial size-up. The company officer completed a scene size-up and advised units of an active fire in a first floor apartment at the rear of the building. The complete general alarm assignment consisted of three engine companies, two truck companies, one squad company, two ambulances and two battalion commanders for a total of 24 personnel who responded to the scene of the incident. An additional safety officer also responded to the incident.

Companies extinguished fire located throughout the first-floor unit, in common hallways and in an adjacent second floor unit within 30 minutes of arrival. Extra time was taken to extinguish smoldering materials during overhaul and remove smoke from the building. Crews continued to perform salvage and overhaul operations for another 90 minutes after the main fire area was extinguished. No injuries to any firefighters operating at the scene were reported during this incident and the occupants of the building were uninjured.

The cause of the fire was determined to be suspicious in nature and six occupied units were deemed uninhabitable after consulting with an inspector from the Naperville Transportation, Engineering, & Development Department (T.E.D.). A total of 18 adults and two children were displaced as a result of the fire. Investigators from the Naperville Fire Investigation Team and Naperville Police Department are actively working to identify a suspect. The Naperville Fire Department was assisted at the scene by the Naperville Police Department, Naperville Electric Department, NiCor and the American Red Cross. Fire station coverage was provided by the Wheaton, Warrenville, and Downers Grove fire agencies during the incident.

This press release was produced by the City of Naperville. The views expressed here are the author’s own.