Chicago fire: 1 critically injured in Lakeview high rise fire, CFD says
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago fire officials said one person is in serious to critical condition after a fire in a Lakeview high rise building.
The Chicago Fire Department said firefighters responded to the report of a fire around 5:30 p.m. in the 400 block of West Melrose.
CFD officials said the fire originated in a 14th floor duplex apartment in the Eddystone that spanned both the 14th and 15th floors. Fire officials said the blaze was contained to the 14th floor of that unit and did not spread upstairs or to any other units.
"And, me and this guy rushed down seven floors of stairs, and then there was glass falling everywhere. They broke the glass out of the window and it became a pretty crazy scene pretty quickly," said Bennett Kaplan, resident.
The fire was struck out a short time later. A man in that unit was taken to a local hospital in serious to critical condition. No firefighters or first responders were hurt, and no further injuries to residents were reported.
"Without their bravery and tenacity that they showed at this fire, it could've been a lot worse," said Shun T. Hayes, Chicago Fire Department.
David Novak was left barefoot after he got out of the building. He said the victim's wife was walking their dog when she returned to the street and saw her apartment burning from below, and her husband unaccounted for.
"I know them very well. And, she was terribly worried because she could've find her husband. The husband was finally brought out on a stretcher," he said. "I hope you come through this because was a, uh - he is one of the eccentrics in the building."
The fire department said the alarms in the building were working at the time of the fire, but there is no sprinkler system as it's not required for buildings built before 1975. The cause remains under investigation.
Most residents were allowed back into their apartments by Friday night. ABC7 reached out to the property manager for comment but have not yet heard back.
