A car crashed into a townhouse on the 3000 block of Crystal Rock Road in west suburban Naperville on Tuesday afternoon and burst into flames, though no injuries were reported. Police said the crash happened around 12:45 p.m., and crews had the fire extinguished by 1:10 p.m.
Police reported the crash to CBS News Chicago, confirming that the vehicle struck the townhouse before catching fire. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, according to police, and it was not immediately clear what led the driver to hit the home.
Fire Crews Moved Quickly to Douse the Flames
Despite the car catching fire after the impact, the blaze was knocked down within roughly 25 minutes, per the same account. No injuries were reported among anyone involved, a relatively fortunate outcome given the vehicle struck an occupied residential structure in the middle of the day.
Tuesday's crash is not the first time a vehicle fire has threatened a Naperville home. In August 2025, a vehicle fire ignited a townhome in the 500 block of Scots Drive, according to the Chicago Tribune, causing $110,000 in damages and displacing at least one resident. That fire broke out overnight, with authorities responding around 12:46 a.m. to find the vehicle fully engulfed and flames extending into the residence; occupants evacuated safely, and no civilians or firefighters were hurt.
A Previous Crash Required a Dramatic Rescue
Naperville has also seen a car crash directly into a home before. In a 2019 incident, a vehicle crashed into a single-family house and caught fire, CBS News reported. That time, the sole occupant of the vehicle was pulled out by a Naperville police officer and a bystander, who broke a window with the officer's baton to free the driver. No one was inside that residence at the time, and the fire did not appear to spread into the home.
It remains unclear what caused Tuesday's crash on Crystal Rock Road, and police have not released further details as the investigation continues.
