Fire kills pet cat, leaves McHenry County home along Fox River uninhabitable

A pet cat is dead and another missing after a fire in Nunda Township that caused serious damage to a home along the Fox River.

The Nunda Rural Fire Protection District were called to the 3700 block of Riverside Drive at 3:20 p.m. Friday for a residential structure and minutes later found heavy smoke showing from the two-story house, fire officials said in a news release. The home is located just south of Route 176 on the west side of the river.

Seventeen neighboring agencies were brought in to assist and got the blaze under control by 4: 15 p.m., according to the release, but firefighters stayed on the scene for two more hours “to monitor and overhaul extensive smoldering content inside the home.”

A cat was found in the home and another had not been accounted for. One of two occupants who was home at the time safely evacuated.

Initial indications are the fire started on the second floor but the cause remains under investigation, according to the release. The house was heavily damaged throughout, and the two people who live there are receiving housing and other aid from the American Red Cross.

The Nunda Rural Fire Protection District thanked other departments who assisted.