Two people were in critical condition after a fire raced through a South Side apartment building Wednesday night, NBC5 reported.
The fire occurred at 63rd Street and Champlain. The battalion chief said one of the people rescued, a 52-year-old woman, was legally blind. She was found in the front landing. A 52-year-old man who tried to get out was also rescued after he was found in the living room of the first-floor apartment. Both were suffering from smoke inhalation.
A paramedic was also injured after he cut his foot on broken glass.
The blaze began in the bedroom of the first-floor apartment, NBC5's Amy Jacobson reported. Firefighters said they knew two people were trapped, so they did a search and rescue before battling the blaze. A window exploded from the heat, and firefighters said the rescue came just in time.
"Fifteen seconds later, it could have been a different story," said a firefighter.
"The truck company that came in, which is Truck 30, did a real good job," said Matt Thomas of the Chicago Fire Department. "We are going to write them up for an award. The fact that they were able to pull these victims out as fast as they did because if not, we would have had two victims that would have been deceased."
The female victim was being treated for smoke inhalation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The male, also suffering from smoke inhalation, was at Provident Hospital Thursday.
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