No injuries were initially reported, but many residents were displaced after a fire caused heavy damage at a Mount Prospect apartment complex.
Firefighters from multiple departments, including Palatine, Des Plaines and Buffalo Grove, battled the blaze from Monday night into the early morning hours Tuesday.
Shortly after 4 a.m., Mount Prospect Fire Chief John Dolan said firefighters still needed to do a secondary search, so there is no definitive information on injuries.
“It was only safe to get our primary done,” he said.
Dolan said no one was taken to a hospital.
Firefighters were initially dispatched to an activated fire alarm at 6:41 p.m. The fire station at Golf Road and Busse Road is nearby, so units were on the scene quickly, Dolan said.
The first arriving companies found heavy smoke and fire coming from the roof and upgraded the alarm to a structure fire at 6:43 p.m.
“We had the better part of 30 fire and EMS apparatus on the scene,” Dolan said.
Fire raged through an apartment building in the 1800 block of West Palm Drive in Mount Prospect.
Steve Zalusky/szalusky@dailyherald.com
Firefighters began an interior attack, pulling water lines to the top floor of the three-story building. They also began their primary search.
“Conditions worsened quickly,” Dolan said. At that point, fire personnel were pulled out of the building, and firefighters went into a time-consuming defensive mode, using aerial ladders as they pummeled the building with water. They also had to cut through the mansard roof.
“It was a very stubborn fire,” he said. “It appears to have started and it appears to have burned in the attic space,” running the entire length of the roof.
Multiple departments responded Monday evening to an apartment fire in Mount Prospect. They worked through the night to get the fire under control.
Steve Zalusky/szalusky@dailyherald.com
“It was in a void space that was very well protected with decking and the roof, so it was very difficult to get to from the exterior,” he said. “It was too dangerous to go interior and very difficult to get to (from the) exterior.”
It took a little over eight hours to get the fire under control.
“We had four master streams going for the better part of six, seven hours,” Dolan said. “A lot of gallons.”
The building itself contains three addresses.
“There were a lot of units impacted by the fire,” Dolan said. Initial estimates of residents displaced was at around 100. Residents were able to move to the apartment complex clubhouse.
Residents either went to hotels provided by human services or to family.
Dolan said Mount Prospect’s police and human services departments worked with property management to locate all the tenants.
“It appears we made contact with all of them,” he said. “But obviously we still want to get eyes on the actual units.”
An apartment building in Mount Prospect burst into flame Monday night. Firefighters fought the blaze throughout the night.
Courtesy of Nick Schittino
One of the residents, Maz Shunnara, said he was walking his dog when he saw a window in one of the top floor units with smoke in it.
“The fire truck pulled up,” he said. “Two minutes later, there was a small explosion. It happened really fast. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Salvation Army volunteers were on the scene to provide food and water, mainly to first responders, but also to the residents if needed.
Fire raged through a Mount Prospect apartment building Monday night. The blaze persisted between midnight and dawn.
Courtesy of Nick Schittino
Red Cross and village human services tended to residents.
The fire marshal will do estimates on damage.
Dolan said building engineers will be on the scene to assess the integrity of the structure.
Mount Prospect police closed Palm Drive west of Busse Road, and Busse Road is closed between Golf Road and Willow Lane.
“We had to lay a lot of supply line. We had to get a lot of water to the scene,” Dolan said.