Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

'I Lost Everything': Logan Square Blaze Destroys Homes, Injures Four

By  Mina Bloom and Alisa Hauser | July 5, 2017 10:35am | Updated on July 5, 2017 11:29am

 A fire broke out Wednesday morning in a house in Logan Square, leaving one civilian and three firefighters injured as the blaze spread to neighboring homes, officials said.
A fire broke out Wednesday morning in a house in Logan Square, leaving one civilian and three firefighters injured as the blaze spread to neighboring homes, officials said.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Mina Bloom

LOGAN SQUARE — A fire broke out Wednesday morning in a house in Logan Square, leaving one civilian and three firefighters injured as the blaze spread to neighboring homes, officials said.

Firefighters arrived on the scene, in the 1800 block of North Kimball Avenue, just north of the elevated Bloomingdale Trail, just before 9:30 a.m., officials said.

The blaze started in a residential building and quickly spread to two neighboring buildings, according to Mark Nielsen, a Chicago Fire Department deputy commissioner at the scene.


[All photos DNAinfo/Mina Bloom]

Flying embers sparked another small fire at a building much further down the block, but that fire was put out immediately, he said.

"There was a lot of fire on the block," Nielsen told reporters.

Nielsen said the firefighters, particularly the first ones on the scene, worked hard to make sure the fire didn't continue to spread, which happens quickly once the flames start coming through windows, he said.  

"They worked extremely hard [during] the initial phases. They did a lot of work within the first minutes. They opened up roofs ... before anyone really got here," Nielsen said.


Mark Nielsen, a Chicago Fire Department deputy commissioner, speaking to reporters at the scene.

Three firefighters were taken to the hospital for heat-related injuries, according to officials.

Firefighters rescued three civilians in total.

A 27-year-old man who suffered from burns and smoke inhalation was initially taken to Presence St. Mary's Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition. He was later transferred to Stroger Hospital, where his status was updated to serious. The other two civilians refused medical treatment.


Jameson Fowler, whose home was torched and his roommate hospitalized in the blaze, speaking to a fire official at the scene.

Jameson Fowler, 31, is roommates with the 27-year-old man who was hospitalized. After the blaze was extinguished around 11:30 a.m., Fowler stood on the corner away from onlookers, watching firefighters load up equipment. The fire started in Fowler's building.

"I'm pretty worried about my roommate," Fowler said, adding that they've been roommates and friends since 2013.

Fowler said his roommate works part-time doing extra work for a casting company. He declined to provide his roommate's name.

The fire spread to the home of Latoya Rogers, her 19-year-old son and his two young children.


Latoya Rogers said she "lost everything" in the fire, which spread to her building.

Rogers was asleep when her son first noticed smoke filling their apartment. The fire got much worse "real quickly" after the family left the building, according to Rogers.

"I know I lost everything how it's looking," Rogers said, adding that the back of the building, closest to their apartment, is completely torched.

"I'm happy to be alive with my family, but I lost everything. This is all I'm left with," she said, pointing to her clothes.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to officials.

 A fire in Logan Square near Kimball Avenue and Cortland Street.
A fire in Logan Square near Kimball Avenue and Cortland Street.
View Full Caption
Joseph Riendeau