Fire Heavily Damages Evergreen Park Home

A fire caused significant damage to a home in Evergreen Park late Monday morning.

The blaze broke out shortly before noon in the basement of the home in the 9400 block of South Utica Avenue. The house is for sale but still occupied.

Evergreen Park Fire Chief Ron Kleinhause said flames were shooting out the back of the home when village firefighters rolled up on the scene. The Oak Lawn and Hometown fire departments arrived immediately to help beat back the flames.

“Once it was confirmed that we had a working fire, we had the rapid intervention team come from Bedford Park,” Kleinhause said.

Firefighters broke the windows in the single-family home to ventilate the fire.

“The fire was in the basement in the back. Our guys made a really good hit on it,” Kleinhause said. “The fire was probably out in ten minutes.”

The fire chief said the fire started in the basement where someone had apparently tried to start a lawnmower.

“We’re not sure if that’s the cause but that’s the origin of it,” Kleinhouse said. “We’re still looking into it.”

Kleinhause said there no injuries and that the occupants of home escaped safely. Firefighters were cleaning up the scene, pulling blinds out of the living room window. The fire did not damage surrounding houses.

A neighbor who lives adjacent to the home said he was evacuated by firefighters.

While the fire caused significant damage, it was “repairable,” Kleinhause said.