Chicago Fire Department rescues woman from South Side high-rise blaze

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Five people were injured after a high-rise fire on the South Side high-rise Monday morning.

The fire broke out shortly after 7 a.m. at a 10-story high rise building in the 3500-block of South Cottage Grove.

The fire likely started on the seventh floor. The windows were blown out of one unit on the South Side of the building.

A man who lives directly next to the unit on the seventh floor. He said heavy, dark smoke quickly engulfed their units and everyone ran for the stairwell exit.

"It was total blindness. It was so black I could not see," said neighbor Paul Johnson. "So I started knocking. When I ran through knocking, I heard people shouting and shouting. I opened it, and I was inside the stairwell and I jumped down."

Chopper 7 flies above a South Side high-rise fire as firefighters rescue a woman from the 7th floor.

Video from Chopper 7 showed firefighters rescuing a woman on the north side of the building from the seventh floor.

They were able to reach her using a ladder and pull her out with a basket.

Residents described mass chaos, as they raced out of their units.

Craig Turner lives on the eighth floor, just above where the fire started.

"I was getting the kids ready," Turner said. "Washing clothes man, and then out of nowhere, you smell smoke. You're like OK I don't know. Then 10 minutes later black smoke just took over everything. The whole entire floor. Everyone's evacuating, everyone's running down the stairs, you can't see. I have a three-year-old and a seven-year-old, so it was just chaotic man."

The windy conditions did not help. CFD said the wind pushed the smoke throughout the building, which made it trickier to deal with.

"Heavy smoke conditions on the fire floor and the floors above the fire, so a lot of searches, took time to clear and go through all the apartments to make sure everybody was OK," CFD Deputy Fire Commissioner of Operations Marc Ferman said.

According to CFD spokesman Larry Langford, there is now no heat in the building and no water or electricity on the seventh floor. He said the initial cause of the fire is smoking in bed or careless use of smoking materials.