An 8-year-old boy and two other people were critically injured Monday morning after a house fire in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood.
The fire was reported shortly after 6 a.m. at a two-and-a-half-story home in the 4000 block of North Austin Avenue, between Belle Plaine Avenue and Irving Park Road. Emergency crews responding to the scene described the fire as involving the basement area of the home.
Chicago police said an 8-year-old boy, a 17-year-old boy and a 34-year-old man were taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. All three were in critical condition with burns and smoke inhalation.
Another person at the scene declined medical treatment, according to the Chicago Fire Department. Eight people were displaced as a result of the fire.
Firefighters worked from the outside of the wood-frame home as crews brought in a tower ladder and ventilated the building. Basement windows were broken out as firefighters worked to reach people inside.
A resident of the building, Andrea Juarez, said her brother was the first in her family to notice smoke and flames coming from the basement unit. She said the father and two children living in the basement were among those hurt.
Juarez described the scene as especially difficult because of the condition of the younger child, recalling that the boy asked for cold water because of his injuries.
Neighbors also described a chaotic scene as firefighters worked to evacuate residents from the building.
A dog from one of the first-floor units was given water after the evacuation, while a cat was rescued from the home and provided oxygen.
The fire left the building unsafe for residents to return, and the home was boarded up after the emergency response.
The cause of the fire had not been determined and remained under investigation. No additional information about the conditions of the three hospitalized victims was immediately available.
