Family Of 4 Escapes To Safety As Fire Guts House In Evanston

EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- A family of four escaped safely as a fire gutted their house in Evanston Saturday evening.

At 7:37 p.m., Evanston firefighters were called to the house in the 1500 block of Cleveland Street in Evanston. Flames were visible in the single-family ranch home, the Evanston Fire Department said.

Crews found heavy smoke and fire in the front of the house, and found everyone had gotten out. Firefighters put out the fire with both an attack from the outside and efforts inside.

Working smoke detectors were credited with alerting the family of four, who escaped without incident, the fire department said.
But the family has been displaced, and are being assisted by the American Red Cross of Chicago and Northern Illinois.

The alarm was held to a Code 4 response using all Evanston fire companies. No one was injured.

The fire department said it appears the fire started in the kitchen, but the investigation continued late Saturday night.