Chicago firefighters battle blazes in Grand Crossing and East Side in freezing temperatures
Chicago firefighters battled two fires Sunday in Grand Crossing and the East Side neighborhood amid freezing temperatures.
In Grand Crossing, firefighters received reports of a house fire at 7115 S. University Ave. around 9:30 a.m., according to Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner Juan Hernandez. Crews rescued four residents from the 1½-story brick building.
Three firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. They were later released and remain “good condition,” Hernandez said. The house had extensive damage from the blaze.
Later, a three-alarm fire tore through a garage at 10251 S. Avenue O in the city’s East Side neighborhood around 10:26 a.m., according to Hernandez. The blaze prompted a hazmat response due to several vehicles inside the structure.
Firefighters remained on the scene Sunday afternoon, and the garage’s roof had collapsed. Hernandez said that in frigid conditions, more responders are often needed to extinguish fires.
“We escalate alarms more quickly to increase personnel,” Hernandez said. “They have it contained, but it’s a stubborn fire.”
