Discarded charcoal sparks Naperville dumpster fire

Charcoal tossed into a dumpster on the Fourth of July started a fire in the parking garage of a west suburban Naperville apartment building.

Crews were called at 6:02 p.m. for reports of smoke in the 1600 block of Kiowa Drive, the Naperville Fire Department said in a statement. Responding firefighters were told the smoke was coming from the parking garage beneath a three-story apartment building.

Upon arrival, firefighters found smoke coming from a blaze in a large dumpster and companies began efforts to put it out, the fire department said. The apartment building was evacuated as crews tried to stop the fire from spreading.

The fire was extinguished about 10 minutes after firefighters arrived, the fire department said. They remained there for another 40 minutes to ensure the building didn’t suffer damage from water, smoke or heat.

No injuries were reported, and no one was displaced, the fire department said. An investigation found the fire was caused by improper charcoal disposal.