Blaze Destroys 22 Apartments In Oak Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An extra-alarm fire destroyed nearly two dozen apartments Tuesday night in west suburban Oak Park, and then rekindled early Wednesday morning.
Residents of the three-story apartment building in the 200 block of Washington Boulevard said the flames moved so fast they didn't even have time to put on their shoes before running out.
The fire started around 9:30 p.m., and when firefighters arrived at the scene, the 22-unit apartment building was fully engulfed in flames, from the ground to the roof.
Oak Park Fire Department Deputy Chief Peter Pilafas said they got a call about people trapped on the third floor, but firefighters did not find anyone inside when they searched the building.
The four-alarm fire required help from 11 neighboring fire departments.
Pilafas said, once firefighters determined everyone had gotten out of the building, the heavy flames forced crews to fight the blaze solely from the outside.
Residents said they heard an explosion in the back of the building. One mother said she and her daughter were heading for bed when a loud boom startled them.
"All of a sudden, it was a rush of smoke just engulfed through our apartment," Theresa Davis said. "We heard windows busting, and everything, and we're like, 'Oh my God, it's an explosion,' so I was like, 'Let's get out of the house,' and we couldn't think of anything else to do, but hurry and race out."
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The building was destroyed in the blaze.
Robert Marani said the fire will be especially hard on his father.
"My father, who owns the building, is 91, and that will probably put him in the grave at this point in time. It was a pretty sad experience, and I'm not really happy about what went down," he said.
But he said he's thankful everyone got out safe.
"The clothing, and the furniture, that's all irrelevant, and the computer you can replace. Just the things that you've had for years are really hard to replace," he said. "This lady's been in that building 40 years. I gave her a ride to a hotel. I checked her in. She's been there 40 years. Everything she has is gone. … So it's a tough blow."
One firefighter was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood to be treated for minor injuries. No residents were injured.
Hours after the fire had been put out, it rekindled around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, but was quickly extinguished again. Firefighters remained on the scene to keep an eye on hot spots.
The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Pilafas said the building is unlivable.
The Red Cross was working with residents to provide shelter.
"We helped 19 families. That was 29 adults and 11 children, and we gave them the means for food, clothing, shelter," Red Cross spokeswoman Martha Carlos said.
The fire department said there were working smoke detectors in the building.
