Christmas Morning Garage Fire Destroys Two Cars; Cause Unknown

Two cars were destroyed in a town home garage fire that broke out shortly before 10 a.m. today.

Deputy Chief Jon Stratton said the fire's cause is undetermined but is believed to have started in a 2005 Ford Explorer SUV that was parked inside the garage at 16787 Hazewood Drive.

One of the town home residents discovered the fire when they went out to the garage to retrieve Christmas presents from the other car and smelled smoke, Stratton said. They were able to evacuate the other residents in the house and called the fire department, he said

The SUV had last been used the previous night and it's not known if the fire had been smoldering overnight or if something caused the fire this morning, he said. An investigator was on the scene.

Plainfield had 26 firefighters on the scene, who had to go in through the garage door because the apparatus to open it mechanically had melted, Stratton said. Naperville, Oswego and Troy fire pesonnel manned the Plainfield stations while Plainfield firefighters were on the scene.

The fire was contained to the garage and took about 15 minutes to extinguish, Stratton said. While the garage was severely damaged, the fire did not spread to the house or the other town homes attached to the unit.