More than 200 firefighters from 50 departments battled Wednesday’s stubborn, hard-to-reach blaze for more than 10 hours, which spread to three Prospect Heights condo buildings, affecting 96 units and displacing 300 local residents.
The first calls reporting the fire at the River Trails Condominiums came in at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Winds spread the fire to three, three-story buildings, each with two addresses, at 866 and 876 Cider Ln. and 831, 823, 848 and 838 McIntosh Ct., Prospect Heights Fire District Chief Drew Smith said. Smoke, water damage and a cutting of utilities displaced residents from a fourth building.
The buildings were not equipped with a unified sm0ke detector system.
Smith said the blaze generated the largest fire response he could recall since the 1985 fire at Arlington Park Racecourse in Arlington Heights.
The fire was still not under control until around midnight, Smith said. Even then, hot spots continued to flare up.