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Woman Injured, Firefighter Runs Out of Air in South Loop Apartment Blaze

By Josh McGhee | August 13, 2014 9:59am
 The woman was taken to an area hospital in good condition.
Resident, Firefighter Injured in South Loop Blaze
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SOUTH LOOP — A woman was injured and a firefighter ran out of air in a fire in a South Loop apartment building Wednesday morning.

Fire trucks and ambulances descended upon the area around 7:47 a.m. Wednesday morning after a fire was started in a third-floor apartment in a building in the 1100 block of South Plymouth Court, said District Chief Steve Chikerotis.

"During the process of putting out the fire and the searches, one of our firefighters ran out of air and was a little disoriented, which can happen, and guys quickly got him to a window and in a short period of time were able to get him out of the apartment. He was treated and he's fine," Chikerotis said, adding the firefighter refused medical attention at the scene.

A "pretty decent"-size fire was discovered in Apartment 303, which firefighters were able to contain inside the apartment. The occupant of the apartment was transferred to an area hospital in good condition, Chikerotis said.

The apartment building holds 75 units, which meant the fire had the potential for a lot of damage, Chikerotis said.

Haytham Abuzayd, 36, lives across from Apartment 303 with his wife and two sons. He was one of the first people to discover the fire and rushed his family out of the fire before attempting to enter his neighbor's apartment and knock on other neighbors' doors to alert them.

"The poor kid ran out of the house with no shoes on," Abuzayd said holding his 5-year-old son on his lap outside the apartment building.

Abuzayd helped his neighbor out of her apartment, but wasn't able to locate the woman's cat because of the thick smoke, he said. The fate of the cat was unknown Wednesday morning.

"It covered the whole hallway within seconds. I tried to go in with a fire extinguisher but the smoke hung 3-4 feet down," he said of trying to enter her apartment. "I couldn't see the fire through the thick smoke. I couldn't step more than a foot in. It just hit me right in the throat."

Abuzayd wasn't in fear for his life or belongings because the fire was contained, but his wife was. He was said he was surprised, however, with how long it took for emergency crews to arrive at the building. But when they arrived they got right to work, he said.

"You should've seen it, they kicked all the glass out the windows and the smoke just poured out," he said.

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