Neighbor Rescues Two People From Burning Little Village Home
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A huge fire in the Little Village neighborhood sent two people to the hospital, and damaged at least three homes early Wednesday morning.
Witnesses said it could have been worse if not for the quick actions of a neighbor.
Around 2:10 a.m., flames engulfed a home near 24th and Rockwell. The fire burst through the roof, and damaged the neighboring homes on each side.
People who evacuated the homes said a neighbor sprang into action before firefighters arrived, kicking down the door and rescuing two people inside, including an elderly man.
"He told my husband that he heard screaming next door, and the fire was already going for a while, I guess, and he kicked their door down to get them out. If not, they'd still be in there," one woman said.
Firefighters attacked the blaze from the street and the back alley, as well as from the windows of neighboring homes.
Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner Timothy Sampey said firefighters were not able to conduct a search of the home where the fire started, because walls already had begun collapsing when they arrived.
"Some of the collapse was exterior. Some of the collapse interior. So at that point in time, your collapsing walls was just trapping fire beneath it. At that point in time, if we can't get in there to get to it, it's a matter of it burning through, or getting as many angles as we can to get water on the fire," he said.
Paramedics took two people to hospitals in serious to critical condition. Sampey said a woman had suffered various burns, and a man had suffered from smoke inhalation.
More than 100 firefighters responded to the blaze, finally extinguishing the stubborn fire and its hotspots by daybreak.
That's when people who live in the building next door began to salvage what they could. They said their home also was destroyed.
Police blocked off two homes with tape.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
