Five Cars Damaged in Metra Parking Lot Fire

Five cars were damaged Monday morning when a car caught on fire in .

An SUV was reported on fire just after 7 a.m., Deputy Fire Chief Peter Ciecko said. Surrounding vehicles were beginning to catch on fire, and were extinguished by firefighters, he said. The fire was out in about 10 minutes, he said.

Ciecko said the owner of the SUV was not present, and no one was injured in the incident. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Metra rider Stewart Campbell witnessed the fire as he arrived at the station around 7:08 a.m.

"There were flames shooting well above the car and visible from across the lot with a plume of heavy black smoke. As I walked from my car to the station, the firefighters started to put water on the fire and quickly brought it under control," he wrote in an email to Buffalo Grove Patch.

"The cars parked on either side of the Saturn VUE that burned — a Honda Accord and an Acura TSX — didn't appear to have much damage to them, but the car immediately in front of the burning Saturn, a black Lexus, had heavy damage to its rear area, with the heat of the fire melting its bumper and tail lights and blistering the paint on the car," Campbell said.

are working to notify the owners of the damaged cars. “We’re just trying to give them a heads up,” Cmdr. Jim Newton said, so there are no surprises when they step off the train tonight.

As of 11:30 a.m., only one owner had been reached, Newton said. Messages were left for the other four, including the owner of the SUV, which was towed. The four other cars remain in the Metra parking lot.

Ciecko said the matter will likely be turned over to the car owners’ insurance companies.