For the second time in less than 50 days, the DeKalb Fire Department responded to Sleepy Hollow Drive when a fire erupted in the attic of a house.

The fire started around noon Thursday at 1532 Sleepy Hollow Drive, next door to the house at 1602 Sleepy Hollow, where a fire occurred in December.

Fire department Lt. David O’Donnell said the fire possibly was a result of a faulty chimney flue on the first floor of the house.

Nine units from the DeKalb and Sycamore fire departments responded to the blaze.

When the firefighters arrived, they saw flames coming from the second floor of the house, O’Donnell said.

All occupants were out of the house by the time the firefighters arrived.

According to reports, firefighters pulled a fire hose through the house and into the dining room. Because they could not readily access the fire, the firefighters tore down the ceiling to get to it.

Additional fire crews began to inspect the exterior of the house for additional flames, but none were found.

It took firefighters 20 minutes to control the blaze, O’Donnell said.

Although the fire was extinguished, firefighters stayed on the scene to determine if the fire spread to any other parts of the house. A thermal imaging camera was used to detect heat, but walls still had to be torn down to be completely sure all flames were out.

“Since the cameras only find heat, we had to cut into the walls to determine if there was any fire in the walls,” O’Donnell said.

After doing so, it was determined that the fire did not spread to any other rooms in the house.

Water and smoke damage combined with fire brought the estimated damage to $50,000.