Four people have died after a fire tore through a townhouse in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighbourhood early on Thursday morning.
The victims – two men and two women – were taken to hospitals in critical condition after firefighters were called to the 7000 block of North Paulina Street on the city’s North Side. Their identities had not been released by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control at 4.14am, with the fire fully contained at about 4.37am. Officials said the flames were confined to one home in a four-unit building.
Three people from neighbouring properties were displaced. A pet was also reported to have died.
The fire prompted a large emergency response as residents gathered outside, trying to establish what had happened and whether those inside had escaped.
One neighbour said he had been woken by people calling for help.
“I woke up off my couch to people screaming for help,” he said. “I heard ‘ow’ and ‘help’ and couldn’t exactly determine what it was at first.”
He also described hearing glass breaking as the fire spread through the property.
Another resident said the people living in the affected townhouse had recently celebrated Halloween together.
The cause of the fire had not been disclosed.
