Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District 
Incident Response Report

At approximately 4:40am on Thursday May 3rd, the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District (BCFPD) was dispatched to a residential structure fire at 83 Paganica Drive in Barrington Hills.

Initial crews arrived in under 4 minutes and found a large multi-story house with flames visible through
the roof. Incident Command was set up immediately, and firefighters were able to determine that all
occupants and pets were out of the structure.

Command staff upgraded the call to a 2nd alarm to bring in support from other area fire departments.
Firefighters set up a rural fire operation, which involves bringing water to areas without fire hydrants.
Large water transport vehicles (Tenders) from BCFPD and surrounding departments ensured that crews
had reliable access to water with which to fight the fire. At no time was water supply lost.

The fire was brought under control in about 2 hours, with crews were positioned at all corners of the
house. There were no injuries to the homeowners or firefighters. Crews remained on scene to extinguish
a few hot spots. The house was deemed uninhabitable. Estimated damage costs are unknown.
BCFPD investigators are working to determine the fire’s cause. Lightning from early morning storms may
be a possible cause, although nothing has been confirmed.

Area departments that assisted BCFPD on the call included Fox River Grove, Cary, Crystal Lake,
Algonquin/Lake in the Hills, Barrington, Lake Zurich, Long Grove, Palatine Rural, East Dundee, Bartlett,
Hoffman Estates, Fox Lake, Wheeling, Palatine, Streamwood, Rolling Meadows, Mundelein, Lincolnshire,
Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, Grayslake, McHenry, Carpentersville, Rutland Dundee, Countryside, West
Dundee, Nunda, Schaumburg, Woodstock, Prospect Heights, Wauconda, Round Lake, Elk Grove, Antioch,
Carpentersville, Des Plaines, Lake Villa, and Barrington Hills Police.

For more information please contact Fire Chief Jim Kreher jkreher@bcfpd.us