2 hospitalized in fire at Chicago apartment building with troubled past
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two people were taken to the hospital after they were rescued from a burning high-rise apartment building Friday morning in Edgewater. Tenants in the building said they have had a history of problems with their landlord.
Chicago Fire Department Deputy District Chief Kelly Burns said the first call came in around 8:10 a.m. after the fire started on the 6th floor of an eight-story, 224-unit building in the 1000 block of West Foster Avenue.
After firefighters arrived, they quickly upgraded the fire to a 2-11 alarm to bring in extra crews, due to the size of the building and the heavy flames visible from six to seven blocks away. Approximately 155 firefighters responded to the scene.
A man who was at the McDonald's across the street said the flames were so intense, they could feel the heat across the street.
One tenant said police officers went through the building, knocking on people's doors, and telling them to get out.
Burns said there was a "tremendous volume of smoke in the hallways."
Two people were rescued and taken to hospitals in serious to critical condition, including a woman on the 4th floor who was so panicked, she was about to jump from the building, even though there was no fire on her floor. Paramedics treated several other people at the scene, but they didn't need to go to the hospital.
The fire was put out shortly before 9 a.m., but not before it had spread from the 6th-floor apartment where it started to the one above it.
Burns said the fire alarm panel in the lobby was lit up when firefighters arrived, but several tenants said they did not hear any fire alarms, and claimed the building has had multiple building code issues.
"No fire alarms are going off throughout the building. The fire people had to come and pound on our doors throughout the building to wake us up. And then I tried to go out the northeast fire exit door, but it was locked, and I even tried to kick it down, but I had to run back up into the building and then back around to another area to get out," Elliott Devore said.
Several other tenants said they did not hear fire alarms.
Sabrina Stark said she didn't know there was a fire until police officers pounded on her door. She said she's happy she made it out, but she's very concerned about some of her neighbors.
"I was woken up by CPD knocking at my door, yelling, 'Fire! Fire! You've got to get out!' So I just quickly grabbed my coat, and got out as quickly as I could. I live on the 8th floor, and I struggle with mobility, so trying to get down eight flights of floors was a little bit of a challenge. I was worried about my neighbors. Some of them I saw go ahead of me, but others were still needing to be evacuated, or the Fire Department said some were sheltering in place," she said.
Burns said the apartment where the fire started was a total loss. While several other people were displaced due to smoke damage, Burns said the building has 40 to 45 vacant units where people who were displaced will be able to move in while their apartments are repaired.
"When we opened the door it was just filled with smoke there were no fire alarms going off and he was evacuating everybody out the building," said resident Jadyn Ford, who was able to escape through the smoke.
Resident Jessica Souza was left trapped inside her unit.
"I put my face to the window and I saw a bunch of people just looking and I saw the smoke and I started to freak out," she said.
Lance Jones who was across the street eating breakfast captured a photo of Souza – frantic and in need of help.
"She said she needs help, she needs to get out, she can't get out its too much smoke," Jones said.
CBS 2 showed her that photo after fire crews pulled her down to safety using a ladder.
She said in that moment….
"I was just praying to give me the chance to survive. Cause it was very terrible."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
While Burns said it appeared the building is well-managed, tenants have said they have had several problems with the landlords in the past.
Trigild took over Edison Apartments' property in September of last year. CBS 2 was told tenants have been living with issues ranging from pest infestation to plumbing problems.
Photos provided by the Edison Tenants Association show crumbling walls, burst pipes, and rodents.
In the past, tenants with disabilities struggled through elevator outages that left them without full access to the building.
After the building's pipes burst in December 2022, tenants began meeting to discuss ways to improve the conditions in the building. In late April, they contacted Arieh Venick, Metropolitan Tenants Organization.
After some difficulty in working with Trigild to schedule a meeting, organized tenants finally received recognition from management. They were able to sit down with on-site property managers, Trigild executives, and their attorney this past August.
Trigild told CBS 2 they recently took over property management, recently sat down with the tenants, and have made great strides in improving the property.
