Jan. 08--A woman died after getting stuck in an elevator during a high-rise apartment fire that also injured nine others in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood early Sunday morning, according to authorities.
Firefighters were called to the 21-story building on the 3100 block of North Lake Shore Drive about 2 a.m., said Fire Department Chief Joe Roccasalva, a department spokesman.
Firefighters found the woman in an elevator on the 12th floor. The doors were open.
The fire originated in a 12th-floor apartment separate from where the woman lived but hot fumes and smoke poured from the apartment into the hallway and the rest of the building because the unit's door was open, Roccasalva said.
It's not clear if the woman, whose family hasn't been notified of her death, was trying to escape or was on her way up. Roccasalva said intense heat and smoke in the hallway likely contributed to her death.
The building did not have a sprinkler system, Roccasalva said. Fire officials had not yet determined the cause of the blaze, he said, and that the cause likely wouldn't be determined until Monday.
Two firefighters were among the injured in the blaze. One was taken from the scene in fair-to-serious condition and the other was taken in good-to-fair condition, Roccasalva said. One of the two firefighters suffered exhaustion and the nature of the other firefighter's injuries wasn't known, Roccasalva said. Neither of the injuries is serious, he said.
Six other peoples were taken to area hospitals in fair-to-serious condition, he said. He said their injuries involved smoke inhalation.
About 150 firefighters responded to the 2-11 alarm fire. An Emergency Medical Services Plan 2 was also called, which calls for 11 ambulances to the scene.
The EMS Plan 1, which calls for six ambulances to the scene, was upgraded after more people suffered from smoke inhalation, Roccasalva said.
Residents displaced from the building were being kept warm in Chicago Transit Authority buses staged a block away or in a neighboring building's lobby, which was holding between 60 and 70 people, Roccasalva said.
Fire was blowing out the windows in the unit when firefighters arrived, he said.
Copyright 2012 - Chicago Tribune
