La Grange Park Firefighters Use FIT-5 Device to Control Fire

La Grange Park's volunteer firefighters extinguished a garage fire yesterday at 30 Richmond Avenue, Fire Chief Dean Maggos said in a press release today.

Neighbors reported the fire at about 5 p.m. on Dec. 7 and called 911. Contractors were working inside the home at the time of the fire, the department said.

When the first fire department vehicle arrived on the scene, smoke was coming from the roof and two eaves of the detached, two-car garage. The initial responder used a FIT-5 device to control the fire until the village's other trucks arrived.

This was the first time the La Grange Park Fire Department used a FIT-5 device to control a fire, Maggos said. The FIT-5 device works like a fire extinguisher, but is thrown into a fire where it activates and discharges a fire suppressant chemical in the fire area. The village purchased FIT-5 devices three years ago, and they are stored in fire chief's car, the duty officer's SUV and in Village ambulances.

Once additional firefighters arrived, the department was able to run a hose line to the fire and completely extinguish it. The garage door was cut with a saw in order for the hose line to reach the fire, because the garage was filled with construction materials and furniture.

No one was injured in the fire and damages are estimated at about $5,000. The department is currently investigating the cause of the fire.