No one hurt in Lincoln Park high-rise blaze
MITCH DUDEK Staff Reporter/mdudek@suntimes.com October 25, 2012 4:30PM
There were no injuries in this two-alarm fire on the 25th floor of a high rise building on the North Side. Photo via Twitter user @DalyDonnellan
Maps
Updated: October 25, 2012 9:46PM
Flames shot from the window of a Lincoln Park high-rise overlooking Lake Michican Thursday afternoon, but no one was injured and firefighters quickly contained the blaze.
The extra-alarm fire started about 3:40 p.m. in a unit on the 24th floor of a 42-story building at 2626 N. Lakeview Ave.
Luckily, no one was home at the time and a closed door contained the blaze to a single room, said fire officials.
“It was just one room, but we elevated (the response)...it’s a big building and we didn’t want to get caught with our pants down,” said a fire official at the scene.
“When we opened the door the whole room was in flames and flames were out the window,” said a firefighter who asked not to be named. “It took us about 15 minutes to knock it down.
“I couldn’t tell you if it was a bedroom or a living room, everything inside was charred,” he said.
“It’s scary,” said 86-year old Selma Florio, who lives on the 25th floor. “I was lucky. I was doing laundry on the first floor. But if I’d been in my apartment I don’t know if there would have been anyone to help me down the stairs,” she said.
For Florio, the incident dredged up memories of a fatal fire at the same building that occurred in Janaury of 2007.
The fire, which erupted on the 26th floor, caused an 81-year-old man to die from smoke inhalation, spurred the fatal heart attack of a neighboring woman, 87, and injured three others, including a firefighter.
