Wilmette firefighters called out for a lakefront condominium fire on Jan. 6 were able to keep the blaze to one unit in the multi-story building, but the fire caused smoke damage in some other units as well as some common areas, Fire Chief Mike McGreal said Jan. 13.
The alarm at 1420 Sheridan Road, a nine-story condominium complex, came in shortly after 6 a.m., and crews were on the scene for three hours, McGreal said. The fire was located in one of the bathrooms of a two-bedroom first floor living unit, he said.
The building has an updated alarm system, but wasn’t equipped with a public address system or sprinklers, McGreal said, so firefighters went from door to door alerting residents, some of who were moved to common areas of the building and others who were told they could remain in their homes.
“Because of the cold temperatures that day, we worked to ensure the residents could stay safe without having to go outside,” McGreal said. He said no one was injured, and the unit’s resident wasn’t home at the time of the fire.
Wilmette was aided by crews from Winnetka, Northfield, Evanston, Glenview, Skokie, and Morton Grove, he said.
Investigators are still checking for the fire’s cause, McGreal said; the damage estimate stands at about $100,000 within the original unit, “but there will also be cleanup throughout the common areas and several other units had smoke damage. We were getting calls from the six floor saying they had smoke.”
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