8-year-old boy, 2 others hospitalized after house fire in Chicago's Portage Park community
Three people, including an 8-year-old boy, were critically injured in a fire in Chicago's Portage Park neighborhood early Monday.
Chicago police were called at 6:14 a.m. for a house in the 4000 block of North Austin Avenue, between Belle Plaine Avenue and Irving Park Road.
On emergency radio, first responders referred to the blaze as a basement fire multiple times. Basement windows were seen busted out.
Chicago police said an 8-year-old boy, a 17-year-old boy, and a 34-year-old man were all taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood from the scene. All three were listed in critical condition with burns and smoke inhalation, police said.
A fourth person refused medical treatment, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
Andrea Juarez, who lives on the first floor of the building with her four children, her mother and her brother said it was her brother who first noticed the smoke and flames coming from the basement unit this morning.
"The father was completely smoked and burned," she told CBS News Chicago in Spanish. "He also seemed disoriented. He kept asking what happened. What happened? Nothing else."
She said the father and two children who lived in the basement were all burned.
"And I feel more for the 8-year-old boy because he was clearly affected, because he was the one who told me he wanted me to pour cold water on him," Juarez said. "He told me he couldn't take it anymore, his little body couldn't stand it, and he told me to pour cold water on him."
Eight people were displaced in the fire, police said.
"All the firefighters were trying to help and do their best to get the family out, the families out safe, especially the ones that were in the basement unit," said neighbor Miguel Rojas. "It was pretty chaotic.
The house where the fire broke out measured two and a half stories and appeared to be wood-frame. By 6:30 a.m., firefighters had their tower ladder up and were conducting mechanical or hydraulic ventilation.
Rojas said a dog living in a first-floor unit in the home needed some comfort after all the chaos.
"It needed some water, so I gave it some water right there, as you can see. I filled it up a little for him," said Rojas. "But it's concerning. I don't think they have anywhere to go right now."
A cat was also rescued from the burning house and needed oxygen.
The cause of the fire was unknown and under investigation Monday morning. The house has been boarded up and it's not safe for the families to return.
