Off-duty Joliet firefighter warned residents of house fire

A Joliet resident reportedly shut the door on an off-duty firefighter trying to warn them of a fire that eventually led to damage to their residence, according to fire officials.

Just after noon on Monday, firefighters responded to a fire in the 6200 block of Ventura Drive in the city’s far west side on a report of a structure fire, according to a statement from the Joliet Fire Department.

Mark Troha, an off-duty Joliet firefighter, was mowing his lawn when he saw smoke coming from the residence, fire officials said.

Troha ran across the street to check the rear of the residence thinking it was possibly smoke from a grill, fire officials said.

After not seeing anyone outside the residence, Troha banged on the doors to alert the residents who were inside the house, fire officials said.

All four occupants were sleeping at the time.

One of them eventually responded to the banging and opened the door, fire officials said. Troha told the occupant that their house was on fire.

But the person said, “My house is not on fire,” before shutting the door on Troha, fire officials said.

Troha banged on the door again and told them he was a Joliet firefighter, there was a fire in the attic and everyone needs to get out, fire officials said.

Other occupants heard the commotion and were able to leave the residence, fire officials said.

Firefighters who responded to the scene discovered the fire was in a walk-in closet, and the fire was contained to the room where it came started.

The home suffered fire, smoke and water damage, fire officials said.

No one was injured. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.