Fire Damages Apartment Building on 95th Street

OAK LAWN, IL -- Firefighters fought a massive blaze in the bitter cold late Thursday afternoon in a mixed-use building in Oak Lawn. Warming buses were dispatched to that location. Traffic was shut down several hours on 95th Street between Oak Park and Harlem Avenues.

The first call came at 5:31 p.m. of a working fire in a three-story building at 6837 W. 95th S. When Oak Lawn firefighters arrived, smoke and flames pouring out of the third floor. Fire crews also encountered fire between the second and third floor inside void spaces. Crews searched the building for possible victims but no one was found inside the building.

“After extensive firefighting efforts in very challenging weather conditions by Oak Lawn firefighters and firefighters from surrounding communities the fire was extinguished and prevented from spreading to an adjacent building,” said Chief Mike Mavrogeorge of the Oak Lawn Fire Department.

Video courtesy of Oak Lawn Fire Department

Additional help was requested with the Evergreen Park and Hometown fire departments responding. Mavrogeorge said the building is uninhabitable. The village’s public works department kept the streets salted and provided a pickup truck and trailer to haul hundreds of feet of frozen hose back to the firehouses. The fire was extinguished at 7:06 p.m. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire and were still on the scene late Thursday evening.

“The cold temperature and snow provided an additional challenge, but our citizens know when they need us, we will be there and give them everything we have and that’s what we did tonight,” Mavrogeorge added. “I’m so proud of our firefighters and the firefighters from the surrounding communities that came to help.”

Tim Barnard, who lives across the street from the building, said he saw flashing lights and firefighters rolling up to the scene.

“I saw dark smoke coming through the roof,” Barnard said. “The firefighters went up to the roof first and started cutting vent holes when flames shot out. These are brave guys. They went through the building while it was on fire making sure everyone was out of the building. They worked their butts off in the freezing cold.”

The white colonial building contains two business on the first floor, with apartments on the second and third floors. Kolb Elementary School at 9620 S. Normandy has been opened a warming center. No injuries were reported.

“Oak Lawn firefighters got the fire out quickly,” said village manager Larry Deetjen. “The building’s electrical had to be turned off. Firefighters went through the units to make sure there is no residual fire in the rafters or eaves. They did a good job.

Within a 24-hour period beginning at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, when arctic cold gripped the Chicago region, Oak Lawn fire crews responded to 45 emergency calls made by citizens. These included 17 emergency medical responses and 28 fire responses, according to the Oak Lawn EMS, Fire, Rescue Facebook page.

Photos: Oak Lawn firefighters battle fire at 6837 W. 95th St. Courtesy of OLFD