Neighbor’s fast response at early stages of stove-top fire prevented major damage to home

A neighbor who saw smoke coming from an Orland Hills home arrived at the scene with a fire extinguisher to find a stove-top burning and helped suppress the fire that could have gotten out of control and caused more damage.

The Orland Fire Protection District (OFPD) arrived at the home located at 16964 88th Avenue and extinguished the fire completely declaring the home safe, with some minor damage.

Damage was limited to the kitchen which suffered mostly smoke damage.

Damage from stove-top fire extinguished by OFPD with assistance from fast acting neighbor with a fire extinguisher. Photo courtesy of the Orland Fire Protection District

“The public should always call 911 right away when there is any sign of a fie. This fire could have been far worse but the fast action of the neighbor at the earliest stage of the fire with a proper fire extinguisher helped prevent the fire from spreading further,” said OFPD Fire Chief Michael Schofield.

“When our firefighters arrived on the scene the neighbor’s action prevented the fire from becoming worse.”

Chief Schofield said that the fire district discourages civilians from entering any property that has a major fire in progress, but the kitchen fire was in its infancy and restricted to the stove top and had not grown into a major fire.”

Schofield urged homeowners to use a fire extinguisher, not water, to put out a grease or oil or stove top fires.

Photos courtesy of the OFPD.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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