Home Uninhabitable After Fire Starts In Garbage Can: Fire District

LOCKPORT, IL — A home in unincorporated Lockport Township is uninhabitable after a fire early Wednesday, according to the Lockport Township Fire Protection District.

The District was called to the reported house fire at 1:59 a.m. Wednesday in the 200 block of Wesleyan Street. Fire companies arrived to find heavy smoke coming from a two-story, single family residence, and soon discovered there was a fire in the back wall of the house that had extended through to the second floor and attic, the fire district said.

Firefighters worked for nearly three hours to bring the fire under control, and locate and extinguish any hidden fire, according to the district.

The occupant of the home woke to the smell of smoke and was able to safely evacuate prior to the fire department’s arrival, the fire district said. The extensive damage caused to the home has left it uninhabitable.

There were no injuries reported, according to the District.

The fire was upgraded to a "full still," which brought in mutual aid assistance from Homer, Lemont, New Lenox and Northwest Homer to the scene while East Joliet, Homer, Plainfield and Romeoville covered the Lockport stations.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by Lockport and MABAS Division 19 Fire Investigators, but appears to have started in a garbage can on the exterior of the home, the fire district said.