Nearly 2 years after fire, residents are still displaced from Chicago high-rise — and fit to be tied
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Nearly two years ago, a fire in a high-rise in the South Side's Kenwood neighborhood left a woman dead and nine other people injured.
Residents who lived in the south tower of the Harper Square Cooperative, 4850 S. Lake Park Ave., are still now displaced—and they've had it. Their finances are stretched to the max, and they are reaching out to say enough has not been done to finalize repairs and get them back into their homes.
In all, more than 100 people are out of their homes—saying their move-in dates are being pushed back again and again. The residents describe uncertainty, stress, and exhaustion.
On Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023—a gray, snowy winter's day in Chicago—a fire broke out just after 10 a.m. on the 15th floor of the apartment tower. The fire spread to 10 floors of the 25-story building.
Debris was seen falling to the ground as firefighters rushed into the building to put out the flames. At the same time, residents inside the building spotted flames climbing past their windows.
A woman in her 80s, a retired school teacher, died in the fire. The cause of the fire was determined to be "careless use of smoking materials that ignited combustibles in a bedroom."
The horrifying fire made headlines for days. Now it's coming up on years, plural, since the fire, and some people are still feeling the effects—as they can't go home.
"The toll it has taken on me has been—I can't measure it," said Joy Anderson-Woodfolk.
More than 130 units of the 25-story apartment building were still deemed unlivable as of mid-November 2024.
"I'm just exhausted," a woman said.
The still-displaced residents rallied in a church on the city's South Side, saying insurance money has run dry.
"It's not just a building—it's a community," another woman said.
Many have nowhere else to go.
"I only had maybe an inch and a half maybe two inches of water that came under my door," said Anderson-Woodfolk.
Nevertheless, Anderson-Woodfolk remains displaced.
"We were told 90 days, then we were told another 90 days, then we were given six months," she said, "and then we stopped getting any response."
Anderson-Woodfolk and other displaced Harper Square Cooperative residents are running out of more than patience.
"What I am is helpless," Anderson-Woodfolk said. "There is no hope left. None."
Anderson-Woodfolk lost her husband of 35 years just before the fire, and said she still feels she has not even had the chance to grieve him. Now, she is racing for brain surgery in a few days—and just wants to get back into her home.
"I'm in my fourth apartment," she said.
CBS News Chicago took Anderson-Woodfolk's concerns, and all the concerns expressed by displaced Harper Square Cooperative residents, directly to Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th).
"I worked alongside the Department of Buildings and the Fire Department to expedite those permits," Robinson said. "If all moves well, people will be able to start moving back into their homes."
He said it would be this month, but this has not been communicated to residents yet.
CBS News Chicago reached the Chicago Department of Buildings with a detailed request for comment earlier in the week. The department issued this statement Wednesday:
"On 07/06/2023, ownership submitted architectural plans in connection with a permit application to repair the extensive fire, smoke and water damage to the east structure located at 4850 S. Lake Park Avenue. The plans submitted did not initially reflect a code compliant design and required two rounds of reviews by DOB before the permit was issued on 09/11/2023. The City's review time was 26 days, and the corrections were with the applicant for 37 days.
"At this time, all of the 143 units in the east structure remain vacant due to the ongoing repair work. The Department of Buildings and the Fire Department are required to ensure compliance with the construction and fire provisions of the Chicago Construction Codes before the building can be reoccupied.
"An application for certificate of occupancy for floors 2-10 was submitted on July 8, 2024, all inspections by the Department of Buildings and the Department of Fire have been approved and the Certificate of Occupancy was issued November 13, 2024. Once ownership picks up the certificate, the owners of units on floors 2 through 10 will be able to reoccupy their homes."
Ald. Robinson said deferred maintenance on the building contributed to delays.
"What can be learned from this is that we have to make sure that we maintain these buildings," he said.
Again, Department of Buildings said people may start moving back into parts of the building once the owner picks up a certificate of occupancy. But building managers have not confirmed that residents will be moving back in.