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Daily Chronicle

Bathroom ceiling fan causes electrical fire in DeKalb apartment

No injuries reported in Monday morning fire at four-story apartment building

DeKalb Fire Station Number 1 with ambulance and fire trucks parked out front in DeKalb, IL

Authorities responded to an electrical fire at a four-story apartment building in DeKalb on Monday.

One resident from one unit was displaced after firefighters tracked the source of the fire to a ceiling vent fan in the apartment’s bathroom, according to a news release from the DeKalb Fire Department.

No injuries were reported.

Officials estimate the fire caused about $5,000 in damage.

Other residents were allowed to return to their apartments inside.

Crews were called to the building at about 10:25 a.m. Monday for reports of a fire alarm sounding, according to the release. Dispatchers told responding firefighters that smoke was reported in the building in the 900 block of Greenbrier Road.

When crews arrived, they found “a light haze” on the first floor, according to the release. Authorities found heavy smoke inside the basement, but no heat or flames.

As the building was searched, crews evacuated residents and identified the ceiling vent fan as the source of the fire, according to the release. First responders cut off power to the affected apartment, and opened the ceiling in the bathroom and an adjacent storage room to see if the fire had spread.

Crews brought the fire under control in about 20 minutes, and remained on the scene for about 1 hour and 48 minutes, according to the release.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but authorities said it appears electrical.

The fire was isolated to one unit in the building, according to the release.

Kelsey Rettke

Kelsey Rettke

Kelsey Rettke is the editor of the Daily Chronicle and co-editor of the Kane County Chronicle, part of Shaw Local News Network.