4 injured including 2 firefighters, 14 displaced after fire in Back of the Yards
Four people, including two firefighters, were taken to the hospital, and over a dozen people were displaced, after an apartment building fire in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood on Thursday morning.
The Chicago Fire Department responded to the fire in the 4500 block of South Laflin Street around 5 a.m.
Firefighters found intense fire in one building that spread to the buildings on either side, Chicago Fire Department District Chief Scott Shawaluk said.
Video from the scene shows heavy smoke coming from the building as crews work to extinguish the flames.
The Fire Department called a 2-11 alarm, which sends an array of equipment and about 100 firefighters, and an EMS Plan 1, which sends five ambulances, Shawaluk said.
Shawaluk said all the residents of the building self-evacuated.
However, Shawaluk said two civilians and two firefighters suffered minor injuries. All were taken to the hospital in unspecified conditions.
A total of 14 people were displaced by the fire, Shawaluk said.
Pets were also rescued. The Chicago Fire Department posted a photo of two firefighters carrying cages of parakeets from the scene of the fire.
A cat was also rescued and reunited with its owner.
The roof collapsed at the primary structure that was on fire, a 2 1/2-story frame house. The structures to which fire spread to another frame house and a brick building.
There was also a tree blocking the road on the block where the fire broke out, after being felled by the storms on Wednesday.
Shawaluk said crews did a phenomenal job, particularly in protecting the houses to which the fire spread. The situation could have been much worse, Shawaluk said.
Firefighters were to remain at the scene for several hours because of hot spots, Shawaluk said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
