At least 3 killed, 3 injured in West Side fire, arson investigation underway, officials say

CHICAGO (WLS) — Three people were killed and three others injured after an extra-alarm fire at a West Side apartment Thursday morning.

Fire officials have deemed the blaze suspicious and have turned it over to police for a criminal arson investigation.

A search for possible additional victims lasted for most of the day Thursday, and the search will resume on Friday, CFD officials said. At least one person might still be missing.

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The fire broke out in a third-floor apartment at about 1:53 a.m. in the 5200-block of West North Avenue, CFD said.

CFD officials said five people were rescued from windows and another person made it out on a stairwell. The fire was was struck by about 3:47 a.m.

“We had several victims and companies went to work right away,” 2nd District Chief Robert Jurewicz said. “They pulled five people out of the window.”

Six people, four adults and two children, were transported to hospitals, with three in grave condition, fire officials said. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office later confirmed that three of them later died.

Chicago police said the deceased victims included a 5-year-old boy, a 32-year-old woman and a 76-year-old man. A 4-year-old boy was among those injured. Their identities were not yet known.

Andrea Boyd said her relatives are among those who died when flames erupted.

“Destiny’s baby, he’s in the hospital,” Boyd said.

Boyd and her family are hoping for the best.

“They said they broke the building to see if she’s in there,” Boyd said. “They told me to give them a moment.”

Late Thursday afternoon, an oversized excavator tore into what’s left of a charred apartment building, clearing the way for rescue crews to move in for a hands-on search for survivors.

The community is in disbelief after the fire claimed several lives.

“I feel like we were minutes away from losing our life, because we were asleep,” Kenyatta Basemore, who lives in the building, said.

Victor Delfi shot cellphone video just before he escaped.

“I look out the window and you can see these flames burning and roasting really, really bad,” Delfi said.

More cellphone video showed flames and thick smoke coming from the third floor.

“I saw my grandma and she opened the front door and there was fire live everywhere in the front door and she hurried up and closed it that means that is where our staircase is and that means our whole staircase was on fire,” Mariah Johnston, who lives in the building, said.

“I saw the front of the building a lady holding a baby on the ground saying ‘my baby is dying,'” Scott Sangster, who lives in the building, said.

One of the victims is Johnston’s grandfather. She said she and her grandpa had a hard time breathing because of all the smoke.

“I didn’t know which way to breathe, through my mouth or nose,” Johnston said. “I started turning the sink water on and trying to drink the water because my mouth was burning.”

“He got smoke in his lungs… so we are waiting to see what is going on,” Norma Johnston, a family member of one of the fire victims, said.

It’s still unclear exactly what started the fire, but some residents report hearing gunshots or an explosion before the flames.

ATF officials were on the scene investigating the fire as a possible arson.

Alderwoman Emma Mitts of the 37th Ward said she was told the fire is the result of two men fighting over a woman who lived there.

“Certainly this was a senseless act that occurred where it appears and arsonist cocktail bombed,” Ald. Mitts said.

Authorities have not officially released a cause of the blaze.

Thursday afternoon, the city’s Department of Buildings dismantled the front wall of the building and removed what remained of the roof to make the structure safe enough for CFD to continue their search for any missing residents.

The Department of Buildings said in a statement, “We were deeply saddened to learn of the unfortunate situation that occurred early this morning on North Ave, our thoughts and prayers are with those families. Safety remains a top priority of the Department of Buildings, and we have deployed members of our team to work closely with our first responders to make the building safe by dismantling the front wall and removing the remaining portion of the roof above the fire floor (3rd floor) to allow CFD to investigate the scene safely. The building is not being demolished.”

The Red Cross said the massive blaze displaced over two dozen people.