A family in unincorporated Lake County was able to escape after a suspected generator fire, officials said.
The home appeared largely destroyed Friday morning. A man standing outside the home declined comment.
Authorities responded just after 7:30 p.m. Thursday to the 9000 block of Lee Place in Crown Point, Sheriff Oscar Martinez said in a release.
The generator “reportedly exploded while (the older father) was refueling it,” he said in a statement.
“Generators are useful during outages, but can be extremely dangerous if used improperly,” Martinez said in a release. “Gasoline and a hot generator can be a deadly combination. Please take proper precautions.”
That man was left with second degree burns, Lake Hills Fire Assistant Chief Matt Michalak said Friday. His adult son was also taken to the hospital with minor burns to get checked out, he said.
He didn’t know the older man’s condition, but suspected he may be transferred to a burn center.
The man’s wife was ok, while another son and daughter-in-law were not home, he said.
The older man was refilling the generator when the fire broke out, Michalak said.
He credited two men driving by — including a neighbor who lived just over a block away — with jumping into action to get everyone out.
One man ran inside and “pulled” the older father out, while the other helped get the others out, Michalak said.
The garage was quickly engulfed, not long after firefighters arrived, he said. Without the men’s intervention, he doesn’t know if the older man would have survived.
Since it was an unincorporated area, the closest fire hydrant was “1,200 feet away,” he said. Over a dozen fire departments helped and they also used over a half-dozen water tankers.
The fire is still under investigation. He stressed safety measures, including keeping generators at least 20 feet from a home and allowing it to cool before refilling. He also said ammunition needs to be properly stored, but emphasized firefighters were told it was stored in the garage. Martinez wrote the ammo “did not pose a danger to the public or responders.”
A neighbor, Ted Gray, 76, said a multi-generation family had lived in the now burned up home and they were avid hunters. He recalled how the wife gave him venison to take home when he stopped by to give them a Christmas card.
On Thursday night, Gray’s wife heard “pop, pop, pop,” he said — the sound of ammunition going off in the garage fire.
By the time he looked outside, the “whole side” was “already engulfed.”
Several teen boys on bicycles looking at the damage Friday said they heard and smelled the fire even blocks away. Jack Messmer, 15, described a “red glow” and the sky was “very smoky.”
“It’s crazy what a generator can do,” Caleb Webb, 14, said, there with his brother Alex, 16.