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Dec. 21--An extra-alarm fire heavily damaged one home and spread to two others in west suburban Berwyn this morning. Firefighters rescued some residents from a rooftop.
The fire in the two-story brick-and-wood house in the 3600 block of Wesley Avenue started shortly before 6 a.m., according to fire officials.
Two people were taken to a local hospital for "routine checkups" for possible smoke inhalation, said Berwyn Fire Chief Denis O'Halloran.
Four people were on one of the rooftops when firefighters arrived and had to be brought down by ladder, O'Halloran said.
In all 16 people were displaced, 13 from the home in the middle that suffered the greatest damage, he said. Firefighters arrived to find the entire back of the building from the basement to the roof engulfed in flames, he said.
The house to the south was vacant, he said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
The fire started in a residence that was converted into a rooming house, said one neighbor.
David Perales, a renter who said he lived there with his large family, said his apartment had no smoke detectors or fire extinguishers even though he had asked his landlord for them.
The fire began as a box alarm and was eventually raised to a 2-11 when flames leapt to neighboring homes. The damage sustained by those residences mainly was scorching, O'Halloran said.
By 8 a.m., fire crews had extinguished flames at all three structures and were cleaning up the scene, according to witnesses.
The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago dispatched a team to the scene to offer assistance, according to its website.
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