7 firefighters hurt battling Rogers Park extra-alarm blaze

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Seven firefighters were hurt battling an extra-alarm fire at an apartment building in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

Fire crews responded to the two-alarm fire in the 1700-block of West Estes Avenue around 6 a.m. Monday. Five ambulances were called to the scene.

Officials said one firefighter injured his shoulder after a set of stairs collapsed.

"As they were making their progress on the inside, trying to make their way up to the third floor, the stairwell gave way," said Jose Santiago, Chicago Fire Commissioner.

Six other firefighters slipped and fell on ice outside the four-story building, officials said. Temperatures hovered around zero degrees in the area early Monday morning. All of the firefighters are expected to be OK.

A mayday call went out during the response. All firefighters were accounted for soon after the call went out.

The flames were through the roof around 6:40 a.m. Crews were ordered off the roof in case it collapsed.

"Flames were about six feet, coming out of the walls and on the top. It was all the way through the back," said Chris Diaz, a neighbor.

As of 11 a.m., crews were still putting out hot spots. The third and fourth floors were badly damaged. Two of the building's 45 units were completely destroyed.

Mossen Mossen lived in one of them. He heard the smoke alarms and got out through a back door.

"Because I opened the front door, then I see the smoke and closed the door. After that, I tell them to go to the back," Mossen said.

Everyone who lived in the building made it out safely. Several residents took shelter inside a CTA warming bus at the scene, including families with small children and pets.

"You have to feel sorry for the people who just had their holiday and now they're dealing with this. My heart goes out to them," said Tom Harris, a neighbor.

Fire officials deemed a portion of the building uninhabitable. Investigators are looking into how the fire started.