ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Fire Department and the Ogle-Lee Fire Protection District responded to two separate structure fires on Monday evening. There were no injuries to residents or firefighters, and eight residents were displaced from the homes due to damage, RFD Chief Dave Sawlsville said.

At approximately 7:30 p.m. firefighters responded to a 911 call about smoke coming from an attic at a home at 418 N. 2nd St. in Rochelle.

"A neighbor looked up and saw smoke coming out of the attic and called 911," Sawlsville said. "The five people that lived there were unaware of it until they were told about it. The owner opened the attic and saw heat and smoke and all residents exited the home. We arrived to heavy smoke coming out of the attic. Attic fires in 90-degree heat can be tough. We took a hose in through the front door and got a lot of the fire out that way. We used the ladder truck on the south side of the building and hit it from the outside and that worked pretty well."

The RFD chief said the 2nd Street fire required a lot of overhaul work to make sure the home was safe, including removing insulation from walls of the attic to make sure it wasn't smoldering. The home suffered minor smoke, fire and water damage and Sawlsville estimated the damage to be around $20,000.

The Red Cross was called to help the family with living accommodations while they're displaced, which Sawlsville estimated could be for a few days to a week. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Sawlsville said it's possible that it could've been caused by a failure in the electrical system due to a window air conditioning unit.

As firefighters began to wrap up work at the 2nd Street fire, they were called at 8:40 p.m. to a separate call at 10949 E. Orchid Lane, Lot 50 in Shangri La Mobile Home Park in Flagg Center for a structure fire.

"The residents were home and said they heard a loud bang," Sawlsville said. "The window air conditioner unit exploded. The fire came out of that room and went down the hall. There was extensive damage done to that trailer."

Sawlsville said there was a small amount of fire at the 10949 E. Orchid Lane incident and there was more smoke and smoldering. Firefighters looked for fire in the walls. The RFD chief estimated about $10,000 worth of damage to the older trailer, which will likely make it a total loss. Three residents were displaced. The Red Cross was contacted to help them and they will be staying with family in the area.

"Those trailers can burn quickly," Sawlsville said. "We always take extra precaution when going out there. There is close proximity to other structures and fire can go from one trailer to another. They burn fast. There is no water supply out there. We took tankers out there and had about 10,000 gallons of water on site."

Amid the two fire calls, first responders were also dispatched to a CO2 alarm at a home in town. RFD firefighters handled the in-town call while the OLFPD stations of Hillcrest, Flagg Center, Creston and Steward covered the out-of-town call. Stillman Fire covered the RFD station with an ambulance for about an hour. Sawlsville said he was happy with how the mutual aid system performed amid a busy evening.

Along with fires, first responders also battled 90-degree heat conditions.

"Heat exhaustion is a big issue," Sawlsville said. "All you can do is rotate people out frequently. The Creston and Hillcrest stations have heat rehab units that they're tasked with bringing to fires with coolers, drinks and fans. And we have ambulances on site. We make sure nobody is actively engaged for more than 15 minutes and we can call more departments in for staffing if we need to. Everybody was OK."

With warmer temperatures forecasted for the rest of the week, Sawlsville asked residents to take precautions and take care of themselves.

"It will be a hot week," Sawlsville said. "I ask residents to take it seriously and be safe and take care of themselves. Check on your neighbors, family members and pets. Older window air conditioning units can cause problems on days like today. They can put strain on the electrical systems of homes."