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Firefighters Rescue Two From Near West Side Fire

By DNAinfo Staff on December 17, 2012 7:50am  | Updated on December 17, 2012 11:44am

 Two victims, including a child, were rescued from a Near West Side fire Sunday, the fire department said. (File photo).
Two victims, including a child, were rescued from a Near West Side fire Sunday, the fire department said. (File photo).
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DNAinfo/Benjamin Woodard

CHICAGO — Firefighters rescued two seriously injured victims, including a child, from a Near West Side fire on Sunday, the Chicago Fire Department's media office said.

Firefighters responded to the blaze in the 2300 block of West Van Buren Street about 1:30 p.m., the Chicago Fire Department said. They arrived to find a woman standing outside the seventh-floor apartment who told them her 3-year-old grandson was trapped inside the building, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Chicago Firefighter Benjamin Villa went into the building with other personnel and came out carrying the injured child in his arms, according to the Sun-Times.

Paramedics say the boy wasn't breathing and had to be resuscitated, the Sun-Times reported.

His grandmother, who had run into the building after the firefighters, collapsed and had to be rescued as well, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The victims were taken to Stroger Hospital with the grandmother in fair condition and her grandson in serious-to-critical condition, the fire department said.

The fire, which is still being investigated, started in a bedroom closet on seventh floor, where rescuers found the child, the Tribune reported.

Officials did not say if the fire appeared suspicious or accidental, according to the Tribune.