Officials investigate late-night Woodstock house fire

From the Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

Officials investigate late-night Woodstock house fire
WOODSTOCK – The investigation of a fire that destroyed a Woodstock home late Monday has been turned over to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department.

Woodstock officials were not able to determine a cause or point of origin, Fire Chief Ralph Webster said, so the fire marshal and sheriff’s department will pick up where they left off.

“There was just such a large volume of fire,” Webster said.

Fire crews were called to the scene about 10:30 p.m. Monday and saw smoke coming from the two-story home at 2312 Mustang Trail. About 20 percent to 25 percent of the house was on fire when they arrived, including the first-floor kitchen, a second-floor bedroom, and the attic, Webster said.

The second floor collapsed, and the first floor ended up burning through to the basement, he said.

“We probably had it under control within 20 minutes, but spent two to three hours doing overhaul work, searching for hidden fires, and opening up the building to make sure we had the fire completely out,” Webster said.

The homeowners and their two children were not home when the fire started, he said.

Emergency crews also responded from Harvard, Hebron, Huntley, Marengo, McHenry Township, Richmond, Wauconda and Wonder Lake.

– Sarah Sutschek and Diana Sroka