A Lake Forest resident died and a second was hospitalized after a house fire broke out just after midnight Sunday, Aug. 9, on the 1200 block of Griffith Road.
The Lake Forest Fire Department and Lake Forest Police Department responded at approximately 12:02 a.m. to find a two-story home with flames visible from a rear first-floor window, according to Lake & McHenry County Scanner, which spoke with Lake Forest Deputy Fire Chief Chris Roberts at the scene.
The initial dispatch described fire showing and people trapped inside. Two occupants were in the home when the fire started.
One escaped by jumping from a second-story window and was found outside by arriving crews. That person was transported to Northwestern Medicine Catherine Gratz Griffin Lake Forest Hospital in stable condition. A second occupant was found dead inside the residence during search and suppression operations, Roberts said.
The home is uninhabitable.
Firefighters advanced a hose line into the rear of the residence and declared the fire out in approximately 35 minutes. The department activated the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, bringing crews from Lake Bluff, North Chicago, Libertyville, Highland Park, Deerfield, Countryside, Lincolnshire, Waukegan, Round Lake, Buffalo Grove, Mundelein and Lake Zurich, Roberts told the Scanner. The Daily Herald also reported on the fire.
The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal arrived on scene at approximately 2:45 a.m. to assist with the investigation. Police and fire investigators were seen photographing the inside and outside of the home.
The Lake County Coroner's Office responded and took possession of the victim's body for autopsy. The victim's identity had not been released as of Sunday.
"No further information regarding the cause is available at this time," Roberts said.
The fire's cause and origin remain under investigation by the Lake Forest Fire Department and the State Fire Marshal's office. The Lake County Coroner's Office has not announced when it expects to release the victim's identity or autopsy results.
