Aurora Apartment Fire Caused By Thawing Frozen Pipes: Officials

AURORA, IL — A fire at the 1300 block of Monomoy Street started from an attempt to thaw out frozen water pipes with a propane heater, fire officials said in a press release Friday evening. The Aurora Fire Department was called at 12:49 p.m. to the six-unit, two story apartment building.

Crews saw smoke at the front when the arrived. Inside the wood-framed building, there was heavy fire in a common wall that separates two apartments, Captain Jim Rhodes said in the press release.

The fire started in the basement of a vacant apartment, Rhodes said. Its owner told officials that the apartment was recently broken into because a window was damaged, which caused the pipes to freeze. Twenty-two fire fighters fully extinguished the flames in under two hours. There were no injuries, but the empty apartment and the one next to it, where an elderly man lives, were deemed uninhabitable.

The Red Cross was contacted to help him. The total estimated cost for damage is $125,000.

Here are some helpful hints when it comes to avoiding frozen pipes.

Photo courtesy of Aurora Fire Department