Chicago firefighter injured, residents displaced after roof collapses during Roseland house fire

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Chicago firefighter is injured and residents are displaced after a fire broke out at a South Side home on Saturday afternoon.

ABC7 spoke with the man who lives on the top floor of the two-story home and lost everything. He said he is now working with the American Red Cross to find alternate housing.

"I got the call, and I come over here, and I barely could get over because there's so many firetrucks," said Timmie Cathey.

The home Cathey and his brothers live in, along with everything inside, is now gone after a fire broke out shortly before 1 p.m. near 108th and Indiana.

"Just look at it. Everything is just gone. Got to start all the way over. Gotta start over," Cathey said.

Cathey had just left to walk the dog when he got a call from his brother that their home in the Roseland neighborhood was in flames.

"I just left the house probably, like, 30 to 45 minutes. And he called me, like, 'The house is on fire. Did you leave something on or did you leave a cigarette burning?' And I'm like, 'No, I didn't leave nothing on and nothing burning,'" Cathey said.

The roof completely collapsed and the windows were blown out. Parts of the badly-damaged home now hang from the house with pieces of it on the ground.

"When I saw the flames, I called 911. I was right here, and the fire was right there," Nick Sabanovic said.

It is unclear how the fire started.

Firefighters were working to protect the houses on either side. Given the heavy flames, the home next door was also damaged.

Cathey and his family are now left homeless in frigid temperatures.

"We are going to see if the Red Cross can help us find some place to stay for a couple days or however long they may help us. Start from there," Cathey said. "Start over and stay strong."

Meanwhile, that firefighter who was injured is expected to be OK. No one else was hurt.