5 People, Some Hanging From Windows, Rescued From Burning House

AURORA, IL — Aurora police officers saved five people, several hanging out of second-story windows, from a burning multifamily house on Jackson Street early Saturday morning, according to the Aurora Fire Department. Officials said a total of eight people were displaced as a result.

Dispatch Aurora Fire Department's Central Station received a call about the structure fire around 6:12 a.m. Aurora police officers arrived at the scene and found several residents hanging out of two front windows "with heavy smoke rapidly overtaking them." Officers saved them using a ladder found in the back yard, officials at the fire department said in a news release Saturday afternoon.

The two-story house had heavy flames, extinguished by fire crews, burning in the rear. Medic units that first arrived began treating four of the five people rescued by police, officials said.

While searching for people trapped in the house, firefighters found an unconscious man, who wasn't breathing, in the basement. He was taken outside to the driveway, where he was treated before an ambulance took him in critical condition to an area hospital. The man, in his 30s, suffered from severe smoke inhalation, officials said.

Two men, ages 33 and 47, and two girls, ages 14 and 15, suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation. A police officer who assisted in rescuing the residents was also taken to the hospital to be treated for minor smoke inhalation, according to the fire department.

Officials said firefighters remained at the house for more than an hour to search for and extinguish any remaining hidden fires.

Arson investigators at the Aurora police and fire departments are investigating the cause of the fire. The Office of the State Fire Marshal is helping in the process as well.

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