March 30--A woman was killed and a man was critically injured in a fire at a Humboldt Park apartment early Wednesday, according to fire officials.
Neighbors said they heard explosions and saw flames coming out the windows of a second-story apartment at 1000 N. Hamlin Ave. just before 1 a.m.
Fire crews rescued two injured people: a 74-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman, according to a Chicago police spokesman. Both were taken to Norwegian American Hospital, where the woman was pronounced dead and the man was in serious-to-critical condition.
Fire officials initially said the woman was in her 40s and the man was in his 70s.
At least seven people were displaced from their homes due to the fire.
Adjacent units and hallways had smoke detectors, some of which were functioning. The apartment itself had sustained so much fire damage that investigators could not initially tell whether smoke detectors had been installed, according to fire officials.
The apartment is above a grocery store that opened a few months ago, said neighbor Parrish Daniels, 49. Banners were hung on its windows advertising its grand opening.
It was newly renovated and a decent store, he said. Then, noticing the water soaking all its merchandise inside, Daniels said, "Well, it used to be."
The explosions were so loud Daniels thought they were gunfire, he said. He went outside in time to see flames shooting from the second-floor windows, then saw crews pull the two injured people from the building. The woman was carried out by at least five firefighters, he said.
"They're some brave people," he said, watching crews on the building's roof. "That was not a fire extinguisher fire out there."
Late this morning, fire department officials said that while the cause of the fire still hadn't been determined, investigators don't believe it was of a suspicious nature.
Fire investigators are awaiting further tests involving electrical work in the building, said Department spokesman Larry Langford.
