Large fire breaks out at far North Side senior living facility, CFD says

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A large fire broke out at an independent senior living facility on the far North Side Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Fire crews responded around 8:30 a.m. to Swartzberg House, an independent senior living facility at 3101 W Touhy Ave. There was a huge fire response at the scene.

There were a few minor injuries but no serious injuries were reported, Chicago fire officials said.

Fire officials said the fire originated inside a 6th floor unit. A resident was cooking in her kitchen when she put plastic and paper on the stove, which caught fire.

The flames were contained to the unit but there is a lot of water damage to the 6th floor and a few levels below.

Most of the fire damage could be seen on the top floor of the building.

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Several ambulances also responded to the scene to transport some residents out.

"I ended up pulling an EMS Plan 2 because we had so many people being checked out, and a lot of them didn't want to go to the hospital," Chicago Fire Department Chief Robert Jurewicz said. "They were just nervous. They wanted to be checked out but we did have a couple of people. The resident of the apartment itself went to the hospital. She had a very high CO level, and then another resident went because she wasn't feeling well."

One firefighter also sustained a minor injury. He went to the hospital and is expected to be ok.

Meanwhile, some family members came to the scene, including Ronda Reneau, who was able to get her mom out of the building.

"It was a scary thing, and my mom has dementia, so it could be confusing for her," Reneau said. "I'm kind of surprised they didn't evacuate anybody."

Reneau said her mother is doing okay.