Chicago Firefighters Find Frigid Weather at Pair of Fires

Three firefighters were injured battling one of two fires in Chicago Sunday. Crews rescued three from one fire.
Jan. 15, 2024

Video shows the fire on South University Avenue.

Kate Armanini
Chicago Tribune
(TNS)

Chicago firefighters battled two fires Sunday in Grand Crossing and the East Side neighborhood amid freezing temperatures.

In Grand Crossing, firefighters received reports of a house fire at 7115 S. University Ave. around 9:30 a.m., according to Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner Juan Hernandez. Crews rescued four residents from the 1½-story brick building.

Three firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. They were later released and remain “good condition,” Hernandez said. The house had extensive damage from the blaze.

Later, a three-alarm fire tore through a garage at 10251 S. Avenue O in the city’s East Side neighborhood around 10:26 a.m., according to Hernandez. The blaze prompted a hazmat response due to several vehicles inside the structure.

Firefighters remained on the scene Sunday afternoon, and the garage’s roof had collapsed. Hernandez said that in frigid conditions, more responders are often needed to extinguish fires.

“We escalate alarms more quickly to increase personnel,” Hernandez said. “They have it contained, but it’s a stubborn fire.”

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©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

About the Author

Steve Redick

Steve Redick worked as a Chicago Fire Department dispatcher for 35 years. Since the late 1970s, Redick has been a fire photographer, capturing the work done by firefighters in Chicago and surrounding communities. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Fire Museum, and he is a self-published author and owner of the historical FD website: ksc711.smugmug.com.

 

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