3 homes damaged after fire breaks out in Jefferson Park
CHICAGO — A multi-alarm fire on the city’s Northwest Side left three homes damaged on Tuesday afternoon.
The blaze broke out in the 5200 block of North Laramie Avenue, in Jefferson Park, and emergency crews were notified by a couple who spotted smoke while driving in the neighborhood.
The couple said they were taking a shortcut through the area due to traffic when they realized the home was on fire.
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“As I was driving by, I saw the black some over the house and I turned to my husband and said ‘It looks like there’s a fire,'” Maribell Rivera said.
Rivera and her then jumped into action and began knocking on doors.
Rivera said in the first house she went to she saw a man exiting one of the burning homes. That man was the 91-year-old grandfather of Sadie Wilson, who lives in one of the impacted homes.
Wilson said she was at work when she got a notification telling her that her home was on fire.
“Once we got to the Blue Line, by Lawrence, we could see black smoke in the air, so we knew, like, there was actually something going on,” Wilson said.
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Wilson added that she is not sure what can be salvaged from the home, but is thankful for Rivera’s quick actions.
All of the residents were able to safely escape the homes without injury, but one family dog remains unaccounted for.
While it is currently unclear what sparked the blaze, it is believed that Tuesday’s high winds helped the fire spread to two nearby homes.
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