Flames Force Chicago Family to Jump From Second Floor
CHICAGO --
Five people, including a child, were hurt in a blaze that was intentially set on the West Side Friday morning, according to police. Some of the victims said they jumped from the burning building.
| Images: Fire Crews Battle FlamesVideo: Victims Describe Escape From FireVideo: Sky5 Over Blaze |
When fire crews arrived at the scene at 10:55 a.m., they "found the second floor totally engulfed," a Fire Department spokesman said.
Chicago police said the fire appears to have been intentionally set. A previous report that stated the fire was accidental was incorrect. No arrests have been made, and they're not releasing any details about how the fire was started.
NBC5's Anthony Ponce spoke with a woman who was in the building when the fire broke out. Adriana Graves said she and her family had to jump from a second-story window because their landlord recently removed the back outside staircase. However, another family member said the back stairs were under repair and the landlord has been fair with them.
"We had to jump out the window," said Graves, who escaped without serious injury. "It's terrible."
Graves told Ponce that the family had to drop her 2-year-old grandson from a window.
"It happened so fast, the fire was just ... it was too fast. Within less than a minute, I couldn't make it nowhere through the house," said Larry Graves, who also jumped from a window.
A crew of Comcast cable workers who had a ladder and were driving by at the time assisted in the rescue of some of two the victims, including the child. The Comcast workers were commended by fire department officials.
"We couldn't get the people on top, so they started jumping and we tried to catch them but they were too heavy," a witness said. "It was real bad because the girl on the third floor was burned real badly."
Laramie was temporarily closed just south of the Green Line station while crews work to extinguish the fire and investigate its cause.
Ponce reported that the second floor of the half residential, half commercial two-flat is a total loss.
The building is home to G&G Appliance on the first floor and occupied apartments on the second. The fire started on the second floor of the building.
Additional information provided by Sun-Times News Group