Chicago high-rise blaze: Woman dies, 8 others hospitalized after fire engulfs residential building
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: A woman died and eight others have been hospitalized confirmed Chicago authorities as firefighters rushed to defuse the fire in a high-rise apartment building. Some of the floors at Harper Square Cooperative, located in the 4800 block of South Lake Park, were engulfed in a fire during snowfall.
The woman who died lived on the 15th floor where the fire started and was a retired schoolteacher in her 80s, according to CBS News sources. On one casualty, Sophia King, the alderman for the area, shared that the deceased was found in the apartment from where the fire could have actually started according to officials. She added that most of the residents were elderly people in the building, “I will tell you when I first walked up, I was aghast and my heart sank. But after talking to leadership, first responders, they have the situation under control.”
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With elevators out and long lead to standpipes crews could not outrun the vertical spread of this high rise fire 4850 Lakepark. pic.twitter.com/jGNM9SVcnL
— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) January 25, 2023
Annette Nance-Holt, Chicago Fire Commissioner said that eight people were taken to hospitals and were all in stable condition by early Wednesday afternoon, January 25. She added that one of the injured persons includes a firefighter, who had suffered a minor injury during a rescue operation but ‘was doing well.’
“They did an outstanding job. It just went straight vertically, and they did everything they could to put that fire out,” praised Nance-Holt said. Barbara Joiner, 69, who acts as a caretaker for another woman who lives on the affected side of the building by the fire was standing outside worrying about her as the snowfall continued. “Oh, my God, These flames are still rising,” she recalled her expression when she just managed to evacuate the building, reports ABC News.
This is a developing story, MEAWW will keep you updated.