Adult, Child Rescued From West Chicago Fire
WEST CHICAGO, Ill. (CBS) -- Two people were rescued from the third floor balcony of a West Chicago apartment building Sunday night, after they became trapped during a fire.
The fire started in a first floor storage room and, although it was confined to that room, the fire created large amounts of dark smoke.
Twelve of the building's 24 units were rendered uninhabitable by the fire, which caused approximately $200,000 in damage, according to the West Chicago Fire District.
When firefighters got to the building on the 1600 block of Windsor Drive, there was smoke in the front of the building, which indicated a substantial fire was inside, a release from the fire district said.
Two residents, who were unable to get out of the building because of heavy smoke conditions in the stairway, were found trapped on a third floor balcony in the rear of the building. Firefighters put a ladder to the third floor balcony and rescued the two, an adult and a child, the release said.
A fire was located in a first floor storage room. The fire generated heavy amounts of dark smoke, but was confined to the room where it started.
Firefighters searched the building's 24 units to make sure no other residents were in their apartments and that there was no extension of fire through the building. The fire was under control within about 20 minutes, according to the fire district.
The American Red Cross gave both food and infant supplies to 69 residents, including 33 children, American Red Cross spokeswoman Erica Serna said.
Approximately 50 firefighters responded to the scene, including firefighters from Wheaton, Winfield, Warrenville, Lisle, Batavia, Geneva, and Naperville. Twelve of the building's units were deemed unihabitable by the fire, which caused about $200,000 in damage, according to the release. No residents were injured, but one firefighter suffered a cut hand during firefighting efforts.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)
