Nobody was injured during a house fire that took place around 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at 945 Whittington Drive on Geneva’s east side.
The Geneva Fire Department responded to the home after the residents called 911 to report their chimney was on fire and was filling an upstairs bedroom with smoke. All three residents made it safely out of the home.
Firefighters found an active fire was present in the chimney and attic when arriving at the house. The alarm was upgraded to bring additional fire units from St. Charles, Batavia and Elburn along with a fill-in engine company from West Chicago.
Firefighters checked the interior of the house and did find the chimney fire had extended into an attic space behind a second floor bedroom closet. The fire was contained to a 10-foot by 10-foot area of bedroom and attic space and was extinguished within 10 minutes after the firefighters arrival. Damage to the home and contents is estimated to be about $30,000.
The fire, which was accidental in nature, was caused by a collection of bird nesting materials that ignited in the attic space after coming in contact with the chimney flue pipe.