Rockford Fire Department investigators say a suspicious fire broke out about 8:30 a.m. today in the rear of a condemned single-story home at 2824 Garfield Drive.
No injuries were reported, but Fire Department officials say the home is a total loss. Heat from the blaze was so intense that it melted the aluminum siding of the neighboring house to the west.
"My dad saw flames in the window and I called the Fire Department," said neighbor Daniel Arellano, who, since 2008, has lived with his family next door to the house that burned.
A witness saw three teenagers with backpacks flee from the house as flames erupted inside the structure but the cause of the fire remains under investigation, District Chief Marc Wortman said.
First-arriving firefighters found heavy smoke and fire coming from the house. Firefighters climbed onto the roof of the house and used axes after controlling the fire to expose still-burning embers and hot spots inside the roof.
"They laid an interior line, quickly bringing the fire under control in 10 minutes and also reported it all-clear on life," Wortman said. "We did a search of the structure."
The Fire Department is requesting that the city demolish the house immediately because of the extensive damage. Wortman said the house was apparently already on the city's list of abandoned homes slated for demolition.