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Fire at abandoned Chicago apartment building leaves 2 hospitalized
Two people were taken to a hospital after a fire in an apartment building on Chicago's West Side Tuesday morning.
CHICAGO - Two people were taken to a hospital after a fire in an apartment building on Chicago's West Side Tuesday morning.
The building that caught fire around 6 a.m. is near the corner of Monroe Street and Cicero Avenue in the Austin neighborhood, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
Fire officials said the building was supposed to be vacant but two people inside needed to be rescued. The two people, a man and a woman, were on the second floor so firefighters needed their ladders to rescue them.
The two patients were taken to Stroger Hospital and both were listed in fair condition.
The fire was mostly contained to the back of the building, although some trees on the property were also damaged.
The fire was struck out by about 7 a.m.
A fire official said they believe the blaze may have started because those inside were trying to stay warm. There were also hoarding conditions inside with several items making it like a "maze" for firefighters.
"They were the only two occupants that we had to find," said Tom Fleischhacker, a Chicago fire battalion chief. "So it's just a challenge just to get through the hoarder conditions up on the second floor. The weather's dropping so people are just trying to find a place to stay warm."
No other injuries were reported.
Just yesterday, a woman was found dead inside an abandoned building that had caught fire in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.