Palatine firefighter/paramedics and police responded at 12:44 p.m. Tuesday to a report of a fire in the back room at Payless Shoesource, 639 East Dundee Road. The store was evacuated upon arrival of firefighters, who were told that a fire behind a refrigerator was still active in the back of the store. No smoke was showing at the front of the building, but light smoke was reported as firefighters entered the building in the Deer Grove Crossing Shopping Center.
Palatine firefighters, who arrived within three minutes, were assisted by Arlington Heights Fire Department and Long Grove Fire Protection District, who responded with a rescue ambulance and a rescue squad, respectively.
The fire was extinguished within minutes by Palatine firefighters using a fire extinguisher. No reports of any injuries. The fire occurred behind a refrigerator. Initial attempts by occupants of the building to extinguish the fire with a fire extinguisher failed to stop the fire. An employee of a neighboring business had used a portable extinguisher on the fire but did not completely put it out.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Palatine Fire Department emphasized the importance of always knowing the location of emergency exits whenever citizens are away from home. People should always be aware of two exits or escape route whether home or away.
Become a fan of the Emergencies Behind the Scenes Facebook page. Includes links to favorite public safety and emergency rescuers and product manufacturers and safety companies that have facebook pages. Submit your pictures or just stay up-to-date on with fire, rescue, EMS and police photo galleries. Please add your public safety photo to the wall album — go direct to the Arlington Cardinal Emergencies Behind the Scenes photos. For a list of all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages, go to Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …