A 78-year-old man died Saturday night following an extra alarm blaze in a high-rise building on the Near West Side.
Fire crews were called to the high-rise building at 300 South Damen Avenue about 11:15 p.m. Saturday and arrived on the scene shortly afterwards, said Chicago Fire Department District Chief Jerry Knapp.
Responders were told there was a fire inside a unit on the 11th floor of the 21-story building, Knapp said.
“Upon confirmation of that fire in the unit on the 11th floor, we escalated to a 2-11 alarm due to the number of occupants in the building at this time of day and due to the smoke conditions on the 11th floor,” Knapp said.
Firefighters found a 78-year-old man inside the 11th-floor unit where the fire began and transported the man in critical condition to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where he later died, said fire department spokesman Larry Langford. The man, who was in bed, was on oxygen, which contributed to the fire, officials said.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the man as Amos Lewis, of the address where his body was found, and said that the cause of his death was inhalation injuries from “careless use of smoking materials.”
The blaze was struck out just before midnight. A number of people on the 11th floor were displaced due to the fire, but officials could not say late Saturday exactly how many. No other injuries were reported.
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Police blocked off traffic on Damen Avenue between Adams and Van Buren streets while crews worked. Damen Avenue was reopened to traffic by midnight.
Knapp said the fire was contained to just one unit, and investigators were working to determine the cause of the fire.