Fire destroys farmhouse

PRAIRIE GROVE – Officials were investigating Friday an overnight fire at an abandoned farmhouse.

Emergency crews were dispatched at 11:35 p.m. Thursday to 3620 Ames Road. When they arrived, the two-story wood structure was fully engulfed, said Deputy Chief Mike Keenan of the Nunda Rural Fire Protection District.

“When it’s fully involved, there’s really no getting it under control,” he said. “Probably 10 minutes after we arrived, it started collapsing on itself. It was a defensive attack only.”

There were no injuries, and the fire is not suspicious, Keenan said.

Because there were no fire hydrants, tankers were brought in for water supply. Crews remained on the scene until about 3 a.m. and Ames Road was shut down for about two hours.

Keenan said that the house likely had been built in the early 1900s and that it had been abandoned for about eight years.

Crews also responded from Cary, Wauconda, McHenry Township, Algonquin-Lake in the Hills, Fox River Grove, Huntley, Crystal Lake, Wonder Lake, Fox Lake and Woodstock.