CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Fire erupted Sunday afternoon in the city's South Chicago neighborhood, and displaced five people – including three young kids.
The extra-alarm blaze sparked in an abandoned building at 9023 S. Exchange Ave. and spread next door at 9027 S. Exchange.
Veronica Peel wiped away tears as she described the nightmare of a fire, which has displaced her and her children, ages 4, 3 and 1.
"I have to find somewhere for me and my three kids to sleep at," Peel said.
Peel said even though the flames destroyed a neighboring unit in an
abandoned home around 4 p.m. Sunday, she lost everything.
"Pretty much everything. I really didn't have that much," Peel said. "By the looks
of it, it might be smoke, smoke messed up everything.
"They had heavy fire on all three floors. Companies immediately asked
for more assistance… calling out another 50 firefighters to help fight
the fire," Chicago Fire Dept. District Chief Bill Vogt said. "They fought it defensively because the roof was sagging on
the third floor, so we fought it defensively for about 40 minutes."
The fire destroyed a vacant three-story home on the South Side.
Some nearby residents returned home to
huge flames.
"I could see huge
red flames out that window," a neighbor named Patricia said, describing the fire on the top floor of the building.
Fire fighters battled the blaze and fought
against freezing temperatures.
"
We had a couple firefighters slip on the ice because once again it's
cold out now," Vogt said. "We had a lot of water on the streets and the staircases
and they slip on the stairs.
"
Investigators said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. But Peel said the problem is much deeper.
"They need to check more of these abandoned building and make sure that
it's suitable to stand up and be next to where anybody else is living," Peel said. "If not, they need to tear it down and do something about it, because it's
really getting out of hand."
According to Fire Media Affairs, no one was injured in the fire and the 2-11 alarm was terminated at 4:44 p.m.
