Rochelle Smith was awakened Friday about 4 p.m. by what sounded like an explosion, grabbed what she could — some clothes, her keys — and sprinted out of her South Side apartment.
In the hallway, her teenage neighbor was screaming, Smith said, the girl’s face and hands covered in burns.
“I tried to help her, but she pulled away from me,” said Smith, 21. “Then I heard some cracking noise and ran outside.”
The explosion sparked a fire that engulfed a three-story apartment complex in the 400 block of East 107th Street, fire officials said. The cause was under investigation, but it came from a second-story apartment in the 12-unit complex, they said.
One female teenager was in critical condition in the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital, fire officials said. There were no other hospitalizations.
Sixth District Fire Deputy Chief Rudy Rinas said the teen was discovered behind the building after the blast. The building appeared to have several vacant units, he said.
Entire windows were blown out of the western part of the building, with glass and metal parts spread across the width of the street. Wooden chairs blown from second floor windows hung from trees in front of the charred building. Wilbert Palmer, a 15-year resident, said he arrived on the scene about five minutes after the explosion.
“Everything I own is gone,” he said as he watched teams of firefighters.
Fire officials would not speculate about what happened, but residents said they had smelled gas Friday morning. Peoples Gas workers were on the scene after the fire.
Palmer, who helps manage the building, said a worker from Peoples Gas had been there in the morning to restore gas after it had been off for about a week.
“The fire is under investigation,” said Rod Sierra, a spokesman for Peoples Gas.
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aahmed@tribune.com
