Firefighters battled a 3-11 alarm blaze in a five-story condominium building in the Morgan Park neighborhood this afternoon as parts of the upper floors of the building collapsed.
The fire began in the building at 2030 W. 111th St. about 2:20 p.m. It was raised to a 2-11 alarm at 2:42 p.m. and to a 3-11 alarm about 3 p.m. An EMS Plan 1, which sends six ambulances to the scene, also was called for the fire. Four people at the building were treated on the scene, but did not need to be taken to the hospital, according to the Chicago Fire Department's media office.
The fire was declared under control at 5:21 p.m., and the EMS Plan 1 secured was secured by about 5:45 p.m.
Firefighters were unable to do a unit-to-unit search of the building because parts of the building's fifth and fourth floor were collapsed into the third floor, said Chicago Deputy Fire Cmsr. of Operation John McNicholas
Fire officials were working with building management to try to get a head count for the number of residents for the 34-unit building, which had 32 units occupied, officials said. Firefighters had not been told by anyone that someone was missing, McNichals said.
When the first fire company arrived, flames were shooting from a third-floor window on the east side of the building, but firefighters also found fire in the walls on the first and second floors, said Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman Meg Ahlheim. In total, about 120 fire personnel and 40 pieces of fire equipment were dispatched to the fire, she said.
Fire officials called a Mayday alert for a lost firefighter about the time the 2-11 alarm was called, but the alert was quickly cancelled when the firefighter was located unharmed, Ahleim said. Other members of his company apparently had lost track of the firefighter, but he was not trapped, she said.
Ted Wyatt said he was inside his second-floor apartment when the fire started, but he noticed nothing amiss until he heard someone calling out.
"People were going through the hallways, yelling, 'Fire!'" said Wyatt, 58.
Once he got into the hallways, Wyatt said he could smell the smoke. Wyatt added that his unit does have a working smoke alarm but it did not go off.
By about 3:45 p.m., the five-story brick Terrace Place West Condominiums had smoke billowing from the top two floors, where firefighters were concentrating the efforts of several hoses, including two directed from tower ladder trucks. At that time, white smoke was billowing from the roof.
By about 4:15 p.m., the fire was largely under control, but large parts of the fourth and fifth floor visible from the street appeared heavily damaged by smoke and fire. About 4:30 p.m., firefighters were concentrating on hotspots on the fifth floor of the building.
By about 5 p.m., firefighters were trying to get into the parts of the building that had not collapsed, but were going to wait to try to get into the collapsed parts of the building until the city Buildings Department has a chance to check the building, McNicholas said.
During the fire, the smoke could be seen from at least a mile away.
chicagobreaking@tribune.com
Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking
Extra-alarm blaze reduces condo building to 'shell'
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Extra-alarm blaze reduces condo building to 'shell'
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Extra-alarm blaze reduces condo building to 'shell'
