Woman dies in house fire near McHenry

One woman is dead and a firefighter suffered minor injuries from a house fire near McHenry in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the McHenry Township Fire Protection District reported.

The McHenry Township Fire Protection District and the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of a house fire with a person trapped about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday at the 2800 block of Magellan Drive near McHenry, according to a McHenry Township Fire Protection District news release.

First responders arrived within 11 minutes to two-story home with “heavy fire on the first and second floors,” Lieutenant Chris Kozel said in the release. Crews initially attempted to fight the fire from inside the home and search for occupants, but the heavy fire conditions forced fire fighters to change to a “defensive attack,” according to the release.

One occupant was found dead in the home, according to a McHenry County Sheriff’s Office news release. Another occupant was treated and released at the scene and one firefighter suffered a “minor” injury and was not taken to a hospital, according to the McHenry Township Fire Protection District release. The home is considered uninhabitable from extensive damage.

The cause of the fire currently is unknown and is under investigation by the McHenry Township Fire Protection District, the sheriff’s office and the Office of the State Fire Marshal, according to the release.

The following fire departments assisted at the scene: Algonquin, Antioch, Cary, Fox Lake, Fox River Grove, Grayslake, Greater Round Lake, Harvard, Hebron, Huntley, Lake Villa, Lake Zurich, Nunda, Richmond, Spring Grove, Twin Lakes, Wauconda, Wonder Lake and Woodstock. The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army also assisted, according to the release.