Aug. 23--Three people were hurt, one critically, in a fire Sunday morning at a Far North Side apartment building, the Chicago Fire Department said.
The fire broke out about 7:50 a.m. in a fourth-floor unit in the 1000 block of West Catalpa Avenue in the Edgewater Beach neighborhood, fire department district chief Jeffrey Horan said.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they encountered smoke and flames and saw several people at upper-floor windows, Horan said.
Firefighters used ladders to rescue one of the victims and to quickly contain the blaze, which damaged the top two floors of the five-story brick apartment building about two blocks west of Sheridan Road.
Horan did not know the nature of the victims' injuries but said three people were taken to area hospitals and one person was critically hurt.
Vernon McCombs, 30, who lives in an apartment near where the fire started, said he saw flames shooting from the building and heard glass cracking as he looked outside into the courtyard. McCombs was able to exit the building safely, passing firefighters on his way to the street.
Horan said it appears the building has working smoke detectors. McCombs, who said he has lived in a studio apartment for about seven years, said it's a good place to live and that the landlords are responsible.
Horan said it was too soon to determine what caused the fire, but it did not appear to be suspicious.
Streets in the neighborhood, including Sheridan, were temporarily blocked while fire crews worked at the scene.
No firefighters were injured.
"These guys did a great job," Horan said.
