Extra-alarm fire breaks out in Lakeview apartment house
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An extra-alarm fire broke out Friday afternoon in an old frame apartment house in Lakeview.
Smoke was seen billowing from the house at 1539 W. Roscoe St., a short distance east of Ashland Avenue, just before 2:30 p.m. Early reports indicated the fire started in the basement.
The fire was raised to a 2-11 alarm for additional equipment and manpower.
Video showed firefighters ripping out the walls in the entryway leading to the upstairs apartment. Water that had been used to fight the fire was seen cascading down the stairs.
The Fire Department said there were two people in the two-story house when the fire broke out.
They said they had to rescue an elderly woman from a second-floor window. She was taken out on a ladder and checked out in an ambulance, but declined to be taken to the hospital.
The second person escaped the house on their own.
A Fire Department battalion chief also suffered a minor injury – likely a pulled muscle, the CFD said.
The massive amount of smoke prompted the call for an extra alarm and more manpower.
"There was just so much smoke and fire – heavy smoke and fire – we needed to get the companies here quickly to protect the other buildings," said CFD 2nd District Chief Bob Jurewicz. "We had a lot of work to do."
The "main body" of the fire had been extinguished by just after 3 p.m., the CFD said.
Fire crews remained on the scene late Friday afternoon to determine what sparked the fire.
A real estate listing indicated the house was built in 1885.
