Five University of Illinois at Chicago students escaped a Wednesday morning fire after one of them was awakened by the smell of smoke.
They said they did not hear smoke detectors.
The fire began at the Van Buren Restaurant, 560 W. Van Buren St., and crept up the walls into the apartment building that the students had moved into one month ago.
Jonathan Valdes, 20, a sophomore, said he felt lucky that he was able to escape but is devastated that he lost all his belongings.
“My friend woke me up. He said, `Jon, we have to get out of here. The building is on fire, the building is on fire.’ I thought he was joking,” said Valdes, who is studying to become a doctor. “I grabbed my jacket and I grabbed my wallet. I didn’t have time to grab anything else.”
Valdes said fire officials told him the building was allowed to house only one tenant and the fire alarm system appeared to be faulty.
