March 20, 2010
A spate of blazes around the Fox Valley kept firefighters busy Friday. Only one injury was reported, though the fires caused thousands of dollars in damage.
Aurora firefighters responded to an acetylene explosion around 4 p.m. at Cyl-Tec Inc.'s warehouse, 950 Industrial Drive, in the Landmark Industrial Park off Sullivan Road. Fire officials said, there were about 100 acetylene cylinders involved in the explosion, which did roughly $15,000 in damage to the facility.
One Cyl-Tec employee was injured in the fire, but drove himself to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Deputy Fire Chief John Lehman said. The investigation is centering around this man, he said, since he was working with the acetylene canisters when they exploded.
Firefighters allowed the chemicals to burn themselves out, rather than risk another explosion.
Elsa Garcia saw the eruption from her home across Sullivan Road. She said the flames were very high, and the floor of her house shook. She heard several loud pops, and called police a number of times.
"I was very scared," she said.
Cyl-Tec is a one-stop service center for compressed gas and cryogenic cylinders and has been in business since 1991. In 1998, a similar series of explosions led to the company's decision to stop handling propane gas cylinders.
Roughly one hour later, at 4:55 p.m., Aurora Township firefighters responded to a house fire at 1686 Solfisburg Ave. The home is owned by Veronica Alviar, who is out of town, said her mother, Melba Ortega, who lives a few houses away.
Ortega said members of her family were clearing up the backyard and had left for only a moment. When they returned, the house was ablaze.
"We were trying to do a good thing, not a bad thing," Ortega said.
Aurora Township Fire Chief Rob Waterman said no one was hurt in the fire, but firefighters had to climb onto the roof and puncture it to get into the attic, where the flames were raging. He estimated the damage at $75,000. The cause is still under investigation.
Batavia firefighters put out a blaze at 322 Maves Drive at 11:25 a.m. The fire was emanating from the basement laundry room and was extinguished in 20 minutes, officials said.
The cause remains under investigation. The fire caused an estimated $75,000 in damage to the structure of the house and $50,000 to its contents. No one was injured.
And North Aurora firefighters took on a fire at a two-story farmhouse at 921 Deerpath Road at 1:15 p.m. Firefighters said the blaze began in two rooms on the first floor and caused substantial damage.
No one was injured, and the cause remains under investigation.