Fire damages roof and solar panels at Joliet IKEA warehouse

Apr 2025Published 22 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantThermal / fireProvisional

Estimated damageEstimated by the register's adjusterHow? Know the real figure?

out of service for about •• daysShown in the record →Full estimate

Where: Ikea distribution centre at 650 Emerald Drive in Joliet, Illinois
What: One third of roof on fire, damaging dozens of solar panels
Injuries: One firefighter treated for exhaustion; none among staff
Response: 81 firefighters took two hours to extinguish the blaze
Cause: Not reported

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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): IKEA

What happened

On 29 April 2025 a fire spread across about a third of the roof of the IKEA distribution centre at 650 Emerald Drive, Joliet, Illinois. Around 10:15 a.m. local firefighters responded to heavy smoke from the roof. A total of 81 firefighters attended and the fire was put out after about two hours. Dozens of rooftop solar panels appeared to be destroyed. All employees left the building with no injuries reported. One firefighter received hospital treatment for exhaustion. The cause of the fire was not reported.

Lessons learned

Rooftop solar arrays on large industrial buildings can be heavily damaged when a roof fire spreads.
Warehouse roof fires may need a large, coordinated fire service response and a long extinguishment time.
Evacuation planning should account for roof fires that also involve solar equipment, even when the cause is not yet known.

More lessons on spacing, layout and fire spread, fire suppression and firefighting, emergency response and public communication, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

Cause of the fire
Model and age of solar panels
Cost of roof repairs
Length of building downtime

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Source

cbsnews.com

Published 2026-09-22. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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Chart to reuse with this story: Solar PV incidents in the United States, by year, free with a credit (PNG).

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