A large house fire in the West Chatham neighborhood led to a mayday call by Chicago firefighters Friday evening, but everyone got out safe and no injuries were reported.

The fire started around 5 p.m. at a home near 82nd and Lafeyette, sending heavy smoke over the neighborhood and the nearby Dan Ryan Expressway.

Deputy District Chief Anthony Frazier Sr. said, when the first firefighters arrived at the scene, everyone who was in the home already had gotten out safely.

One woman who lives next door said she was picking up a package on her porch when she smelled smoke. She went back inside and waited until firefighters told her she should leave as they worked to try to make sure the flames didn't spread to her house.

As firefighters were battling the flames inside, a mayday call went out after a firefighter was briefly separated from their colleagues. Everyone was pulled out of the building and, a short time later, all firefighters were accounted for as they continued battling the flames from a defensive position. 

Heavy flames could be seen pouring from a rear window and from holes firefighters had opened in the roof for ventilation before a tower ladder truck was brought in to help extinguish the fire from above.

The fire was extinguished by about 6:15 p.m., and Frazier said no injuries were reported. 

The cause of the fire was under investigation Friday evening. Frazier said people who lived in the home said the fire appeared to start in the rear bedroom.