A fire that was aggravated and spread by a gusty and unpredictable wind destroyed two homes in Sun City’s Neighborhood 36 on Sunday, May 6. It also damaged a third house and destroyed or damaged several cars parked at the fire scene.
The fire started in a garage at one of the homes in the 14000 block of Saffron Trail,” said Al Schlick, deputy chief of the Huntley Fire Protection District. “To keep the blaze from spreading more than it actually did, firefighters from Woodstock, Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills, and Algonquin were called in to help.”
Area firefighters worked for five hours to control a house fire that started on on the 14000 block of Saffron Trail. High winds caused the fire to damage multiple houses. (Photos by Tony Pratt/Sun Day)
Neighbors said firefighters remained on the scene for nearly five hours, to make sure the fire was put out.
“We heard a commotion outside, and we went out and saw smoke coming from the house next door,” said Frank Partipilo. “It was so windy we were worried about our house. The wind was blowing one way when the fire started and then it changed and blew the other way, so that houses on both side of where the fire started were damaged. It’s such a scary thing, to watch everything that it took years to build disappear so quickly.”
“The fire went over to the house on the other side of ours and set it on fire, and then it came over and broke a window and damaged siding on our house,” said Genevieve Partipilo. “We have a lot of water damage in our house.”
“The fire appears to have started in the garage of one of the houses, and spread both ways to houses on either side,” said Schlick. “But as of late Monday morning, fire investigators had not determined the cause.”
Occupants of the house where the fire started called 911 shortly after 2 p.m., Schlick said, and the home was totally engulfed in flames when the first firefighters arrived seven minutes later.
No one was injured, but Schlick said one resident, who may have been standing in the street watching firefighters work, was evaluated for smoke inhalation but was not hospitalized.
Saffron Trail is located immediately north of Clanyard Road on Sun City’s far west side.
