Devastating blaze at Antioch apartment building displaces 15 people, kills 6 pets

ANTIOCH, Ill. - A fire at an Antioch apartment building left 15 people displaced and six pets deceased.

The fire broke out around 3 p.m. Wednesday in the 24200 block of W. North Avenue. When crews arrived at the scene, they found some residents trying to go back in to rescue their pets.

"I’m thankful that no one was hurt – that’s the biggest thing," said Nancy Bragg, who lives in the home and was at work when her family called her. "The neighbor in front apartment came and said, ‘there’s smoke’ and my husband came outside, saw the smoke and my son came out and dialed 911."

She says two of her cats are still missing and her apartment received a lot of water damage.

"I have lived here for almost 21 years and it's scary and it’s, now we have to figure out what we are going to do and we have no insurance," said Bragg.

Antioch fire officials say the apartment building contained four flats. The flames were contained to one unit, but three other flats were filled with smoke and water.

All four of the flats were deemed uninhabitable after the fire was extinguished, which took about three hours.

Fire officials say six pets died in the fire, but six other pets were rescued safely. One person was treated for injuries at the scene. No other injuries were reported.

The 15 people who were displaced are receiving assistance from the Red Cross.

According to the Lakes Region Historical Society, the home is known as the "William Musch Home" and has been there since it was built around 1918 for a family of nine.

Fire crews from Wisconsin and other parts of Illinois helped Antioch with the response.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.