10 people were left temporarily homeless after a fire early Tuesday in a nine unit apartment building on Howard St. in Evanston, authorities said.
On Tuesday, at approximately 2:10 a.m., Evanston firefighters responded to reports of a fire in a business located on the first floor of a two-story multi-residential structure at 741 Howard St., said division chief Kimberly Kull.
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She said first responders encountered heavy smoke and fire conditions and immediately called for additional resources to contain the threat.
“There was heavy smoke and fire visible from the storefront off Howard,” said Kull. “Flames were visible and they were lapping up into the second floor.”
She said that some residents evacuated the building shortly after the fire started and that arriving firefighters also led residents from the building.
“The fact that nobody was injured, being a late night or early morning fire, the potential was there,” said Kull. “but fortunately between residents being able to self evacuate and our firefighters finding those residents that were still in the units, being able to assist them safely, is obviously the best scenario.”
She said that due to a “well-coordinated interior attack,” the blaze was extinguished in 15 minutes and contained to the unit of origin. But extensive smoke damage resulted in the displacement of 10 residents in three of the nine apartments in the building, Hull said.
She said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, and that neighboring fire departments were called to assist with fire investigation and respond to emergency calls in Evanston.
“We were able by-in-large to coordinate our response with in town crews,” Hull explained. “We had two fire chiefs respond from outside of town and other companies responded to cover the town while we were mitigating that fire. Our crews were primarily the ones that extinguished it.”
The Red Cross is working with the residents displaced by the fire to help them find temporary housing, Hull said.
“The unit where the fire originated is destroyed, however the adjacent businesses are still functional,” she said. “So there was relatively good protection between that business and adjacent business in that structure. Only three of nine apartments were damaged and that is because there was a timely response.”
She said no injuries were reported.
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.