It’s Chicago. Someone else and two firemen were hurt in a fire in the South Shore neighborhood on Monday night.
The fire began on the second floor of a three-story apartment building with several units in the 1400 block of East 69th Place, near where it meets Dante Avenue.
Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner Donald Walker said that because the Fire Department was getting so many calls, a still-and-box alarm was set off to get more tools and people to help.
While firemen were putting out the fire, a staircase fell, making it hard for the Fire Department to talk to some of its members. A mayday was sent out for the firemen who were missing, but Walker said that everyone was eventually found.
A woman was taken from the scene of the accident to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good health. Two firemen were also taken to the same hospital with minor injuries.
Walker said that the firemen’s injuries had nothing to do with the mayday.
Before the fire trucks arrived, Walker said two people jumped out of a window on the second floor to get away. They were not hurt.
At about 6:45 p.m., the fire was put out.
The building that caught fire is right next door to Karen Woodard’s house.
“I was smelling the smoke sitting in my easy chair, and I was smelling the smoke, and I came down and just flame, and blazed up, and a lot of heavy, heavy smoke,” she shared.
Woodard also said that some people who live in the building like to “clown,” which means they like to hang out of open windows and throw things out.
Walker said that the reason and origin of the fire were still being looked into late Monday night. The fire made the building unlivable, but it wasn’t clear right away how many people had to leave.
