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Jan. 04--A man and a woman were hospitalized after a fire erupted at an apartment building in an unincorporated area near Palatine tonight, causing $75,000 in damage.
At 6:32 p.m. the Palatine Fire Department responded to initial reports of a person trapped on the top level of a 3-story residential building at 1434 Carol Ct., according to a statement from the fire department.
Crews searched the apartment building but did not find anyone trapped.
But firefighters did encounter heavy fire and smoke from the window of a second floor apartment where the fire started -- and four occupants, according to the statement.
Officers from the Cook County Sheriff's helped the four and multiple other residents escape before firefighters arrived, according to Palatine Fire Battalion Chief Mike Freese
A man suffered minor burn injuries and a woman had to be transported for a medical condition which developed while firefighters were on the scene, the statement said. Both were inside the apartment where the fire started and they were taken to Northwest Community Healthcare in Arlington Heights, according to the battalion chief.
Firefighters aggressively attacked the blaze with a 1 -inch water hose and brought it under control.
The unit where the fire originated was rendered uninhabitable and the remaining five units of the building were tenable, but residents had made arrangements to stay somewhere else for the night, the statement said.
The damage was estimated at $75,000, and while the cause of the fire is under investigation, Freese said there is no reason to suspect foul play.
Twenty-one members of the Palatine Fire Department along with personnel from the Arlington Heights Fire Department, Long Grove Fire Department and Palatine Rural Fire Protection District responded to the scene.
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