This is breaking news. One dead. Others jump for their lives. Al Iverson gives us a first hand account. Source/read more.
1 killed, 5 injured in Rogers Park fire.
One dead, several injured in Rogers Park blaze.
Five-Story Apartment Building Evacuated.
1 Dead, Firefighter Injured at Blaze.
Fire roars through 5th floor of North Side building.
Tribune photos.
Update: Resident charged in fatal apartment building fire. Mahad Ali Hassan, 26, of 6720 N. Sheridan Road, was charged late Saturday night with first-degree murder. Source/read more.
21 comments:
CLTV's website has an article up.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/01/rogers-park-building-evacuated-as-firefighter-battle-blaze.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChicagoBreakingNews+%28Chicago+Breaking+News%29
My dearest fellow neighbors,
Tears are streaming down my face as I see the pictures of the poor and disadvantaged people of color who are the victims of another rich building owner. God help them in this time of great need.
This is horrible. I feel sorry for the people injuried in this and left homeless by this fire. I hope that they get all of the help they deserve right now. My thoughts and prayers are with the deceased's loved ones.
This is the reason why we heard all of those sirens in my 6th period class. There was TONS of sirens that we heard and we were concerned. We obviously had a reason to be. Well, like I said, my sympathies to everyone involved in this.
Something I'm noticing about fatal apartment fires here in Chicago, and that's that a really high percentage of them are taking place in buildings built between 1955 and 1975, whether it'a cheap 4 plus 1 or a pricey Streeterville highrise. Last month there was the fatal fire in an expensive condo in Streeterville, the very same building in which there was another fatal fire a few years back, and it was like this one in that the fire spread to other apartments, which should not have happened, especially in such a relatively "modern" building.
In short, the buildings of this 20 year period are a truly crappy vintage of buildings and we could tear down 90% of them with no loss if only we could afford to.
I have lived in a number much older buildings that have from time to time experienced fires yet the blaze was contained within the unit in which it started and was put out without taking out the entire floor, and with no injuries. Frankly, the only 20s vintage buildings in which the blazes really spread are those that have been "rehabbed" in keeping with modern slipshod practices and standards. The 20s and 30s vintage buildings, at least in their original state, are evidently of much higher quality.
This fire in our neighborhood yesterday happened in a building that is fairly well kept and was improved vastly a few years ago. It staggers me that the fire could run through many apartments and down the hall.
We need to look at our building codes very carefully to see where we're going wrong, because it looks to me like the quality of building has really slipped in the past 75 years.
98% of ALL fires in residential buildings are the result of PEOPLE; either through careless use of smoking material, faulty extension cords, supplemental heaters, careless cooking and or arson! Etc., etc., etc!
Rachael Slur: What's wrong with you?
Unless the landlord set the fire or paid someone to do so, he's not responsible for it.
There have been numerous people in that building arrested for all sorts of crap.
It's likely one of them set the fire, it started in a hallway according to news reports.
And just how do you know it's a "rich building owner"?
Not all owners are rich.
And not all poor & disadvantaged people are of color, census figures show most in fact are white!
Ms. Slur: I would be willing to bet that the person who set this fire is a person of color. Unless the building owner came by and set his building on fire (which is actually the case sometimes), no one was victimized by him/her. But you apparently will use any excuse to place blame elsewhere.
Yes, Mike, fires are all one way or the other started by people, with the exception of the very rare case of lightning striking.
However, the quality of the building makes a huge difference on whether that fire stays contained, or even gets snuffed out by, say, a sprinkler system- or whether it turns into a conflagration that spreads too rapidly for people to escape and involves the whole building. And the quality of the building is, of course, determined by the people who build it and operate it.
That's why we have building codes, which are a GOOD form of regulation. I respect those codes, for they were written with blood. Every single one was triggered by a disaster.Look at the major building disasters, whether they are something like the Iriquoi Theater fire (600 dead, no fire escapes, locked exit doors) or the porch collapse in LP (13 dead,shoddy construction, no permit) or the E2 nightclub stampede (19 dead,locked exit doors, upper story open with no permit)or the Rhode Island nightclub fire (100 dead, illegal fireworks deployed inside the structure)- these were all the result of code violations.
I don't know what caused this fire, but things like fire retarding carpeting and a more sensitive alarm system might have helped get people out of the building earlier, and better construction might have slowed or stopped the spread through the apartments on the 5th floor.
Clark Street: Rachael Slur is a tongue-in-cheek blogger. Quite amusing at times. Rachael, do you currently have your own blog? I think you should resurrect Alderman's Intern.http://aldermansintern.blogspot.com/
Save Street End Beaches said...
Clark Street: Rachael Slur is a tongue-in-cheek blogger. Quite amusing at times.
Wish this was one of those time. Someone died and all this wanna-be sly satirical clown can do is needlessly evoke race, ans she/he does for EVERY situation? Get a new act, Slur, this one is so old its got whiskers. And while you're at it, your moniker needs a tune-up too.
Save Street End Beaches: There was absolutely nothing tongue & cheek in what she wrote. It reads like a screed from a 70s radical, like Bill Ayers!
If that's her idea of satire, she needs to learn what satire really is or put the word satire at the end of her posts.
To 'The North Coast',
Thanks for the 'schooling' on fires and building quality. I've been involved in managing, developing and constructing industrial, commercial and residential Real Estate for 40 years and have a pretty good idea about construction and other aspects of building quality as it relates to fires. Regarding this particular fire, according to the reports I read and heard from the CFD, the fire was started in the 5th floor hallway with an accelerant (gas can found) and spread to one apartment where it was confined and contained. FYI, Chicago has some of the most stringent building and fire codes in the country, if not the world and BTW, fires are NOT ALL started by people, "one way or the other". Some fires start due to electrical wiring issues, heating systems malfunctions, gas line leaks, etc.,etc.,etc. Those causes wouldn't be considered "caused by people." And to be clear, I'm not 'championing' 4 + one type buildings and or construction, however, they do meet minimal standards regarding building and fire code requirements.
If this fire was arson, the perp should get the death penalty. This is the worst way to die there is.
I talked to some of the people outside around 3:30 yesterday when I was on the way home. I live 1/2 block north of this building. Everyone that I saw were nice decent people of all different types. Has any one heard an update as to how they are doing over at the Loyola Shelter set up by the Red Cross?
Jennifer Clark tells me Loyola U took in a lot of the families displaced from the fire.
Thank you, Loyola U.
I walk past this building frequently and have never noticed anyone that seemed bad entering it or leaving it. Most of the buildings along Sheridan Road are pretty decent.
The place has been improved a lot and the lobby area looks nice. The property is well-kept.
I did not mean to imply that this fire was the landlord's doing in any way, and it sounds as though it was not.
The Sun-Times is reporting the fire as arson, probably by a tenant or former tenant.
=======================
Man who died at Rogers Park fire was victim of homicide
January 15, 2010
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO AND TINA SFONDELES
Sun-Times Staff Reporters
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1992099,CST-NWS-jump15.article
Investigators suspect an irate former tenant may have set the Rogers Park apartment building fire that left one dead and five others injured, law enforcement sources said this afternoon.
After finding a gasoline can inside the 6720 N. Sheridan building, police were visiting nearby gas stations to learn where the gas can might have been purchased, the sources said. Other residents have told investigators they saw the former tenant running from the building at the time of the fire, the sources said.
The dead man, whose badly-burned body was found in the fifth-floor hallway, has not been identified. The Cook County medical examiner’s office said today that the man died of smoke and soot inhalation, and they categorized his death as a homicide.
As thick smoke curled under apartment doors shortly after noon Thursday, some trapped residents of the apartment building flung open windows and screamed for help.
But one man couldn’t wait for firefighters. He jumped from the top floor of the five-story building during the blaze. Of the five injured — including two firefighters — only the jumper suffered life-threatening injuries, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. The blaze engulfed that fifth-floor hallway, entered one unit and burned a small area on the fourth floor, Langford said.
Based on witness accounts and evidence, the case was turned over to the Chicago Police Department's bomb and arson section, Langford said.
The fire displaced about a dozen people, Langford said.
Several residents said they were awakened by smoke and screaming. Firefighters on ladders rescued many on the fifth floor.
Contributing: Frank Main, Stefano Esposito, Tina Sfondeles
Hmmm...reading down the comments...looking for an update from R. Slur...none
More The BHORP posts,please.
I guess nothing is going on in Rogers Park anymore.
Delete bookmark.
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