CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- An extra-alarm fire in a home in the Bridgeport neighborhood Friday morning injured seven firefighters.
There were some tense moments for awhile, officials said.
The extra-alarm fire in a two-story coach house, located in the 2700 block of South Lowe Avenue, broke out at about 6:50 a.m., according to officials. There were no reports of people trapped, fire officials said.
Forty-five minutes into battling the fire, there was a "mayday" call. Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said there was a "flashover" inside -- everything was ignited at once -- causing very intense flames.
"Firefighters called a mayday, because one member was missing for a very short period. The situation got pretty hot in there for awhile, but they able to be rescued, all the members taken out."
Langford said the narrow alley and utility poles and lines prevented firefighters from using a tower ladder and fighting the fire from above. They had to use hand lines from the ground. He said a female firefighter working a hose described the whole staircase instantly exploding in flames when the flashover occurred.
The fire spread fast. One firefighter who was on the roof jumped to a garage next door to escape the flames, officials said.
All told, seven firefighters sustained injuries ranging from burns to a laceration to orthopaedic injury.
"It appears all of them are going to be fine, including the firefighter who is seen in the video jumping from the building. Things went downhill in that building very rapidly. He had to make a choice to jump off of there and land on top of a garage next door," Langford said.
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The cause of the fire was under investigation.