CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The Chicago Fire Department said one person was critically injured in an extra alarm fire in the Hyde Park neighborhood early Tuesday morning.
Even four hours after the fire began around 3:30 a.m., flames were still shooting through the roof of a four-story brick condo building on 51st and Kenwood. Fire Cmsr. Annette Nance-Holt said the roof of the building collapsed, requiring firefighters to stay outside the building and shoot thousands of gallons of water inside.
"You can just look at the windows and tell what the condition was like. We've had two other fires this year already, hoarding condition hinders our ability as well," Nance-Holt said.
At its height, the fire brought in 250 firefighters and other Fire Department personnel and 90 pieces of equipment.
The fire department said those heavy hoarder conditions were in the unit where the one senior citizen woman victim was found. CPR was done on the woman to bring her back before she was taken to the hospital.
Iyeshia Eerry, lives in the building next door.
"This morning about, like, three o'clock in the morning, I woke up and smelled all the smoke and I checked my house and it wasn't my house so I went back to sleep. I woke up again. I was checking around, the next thing you know, I get a knock at the door and they just bust the door in. They tell us to evacuate the building," Eerry said.
Eerry says she believes her cat remained in her apartment.
The Fire Department says smoke detectors were working and at least eight people were displaced. Cause is not yet known.
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