Tuesday morning, Chicago fire crews are battling a massive fire in an apartment building in the city’s South Side Hyde Park neighborhood.
As early as 4:30 a.m., large flames and heavy smoke could be seen coming from a four-story apartment building in the 5100 block of South Kenwood Avenue.
According to Chicago police, a woman was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition following the incident, which occurred around 3:30 a.m.
Those in the burning building as well as those in nearby buildings were asked to leave their homes early Tuesday.
“Something jolted me awake, and I heard fire engines approaching, and people knocking on doors, saying, ‘fire, fire, gotta get out.’ ‘Get out of the building, the building is on fire,’ someone on the street yelled “Ryan Winters, a neighbor, stated.
According to Chicago fire officials, approximately 250 firefighters are on the scene.
“I woke up about 4 o’clock to noise in the backyard, and I looked out to see someone chopping down the wooden fence between the properties,” said neighbor Joan Allison.
There are some street closures in the area as crews work to extinguish the raging fire, which had grown in size by 6:30 a.m., with flames and heavy smoke billowing from the building’s roof.
Hoarding conditions, according to Chicago Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt, made it difficult for firefighters to access the fire early on.
Firefighters are on the defensive after the building’s roof caved in, Nance-Holt said at a press conference around 7 a.m.
“We’re pouring tons of water on this fire,” she explained. “(Crews have) a lot of work ahead of them.”
According to Nance-Holt, at least eight people have been displaced.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Leave a Reply