Margie Stirn wasn't sure what to make of it as she and her husband, Nick, pulled their car into the driveway of their central Naperville home Monday morning and tried to get inside using the garage door opener.
Despite pressing repeatedly on the remote, the door refused to open, Margie Stirn said. Concluding there had been a power failure or similar problem, the couple got out of their car and walked to the front door of their house in the 1500 block of Chat Court.
"Smoke just started pouring out" after her husband opened the door, Margie Stirn said. "All of the smoke alarms were going off. The whole house was filled with smoke."
A call to 911 at 11:34 a.m. brought 24 Naperville Fire Department firefighters and 10 vehicles and pieces of apparatus to the Stirn's cul-de-sac. No one was home at the time, and the Stirns have no pets.