One Elmwood Park residence was destroyed and two others were damaged after a fire broke out before dawn Thursday on a residential block in Elmwood Park.
Firefighters responded around 5:30 a.m. Thursday to the 2900 block of 73rd Court on a call of a fire at a home, Elmwood Fire Department Chief Michael Terzo told Pioneer Press.
The chief said the home that was on fire was fully engulfed when emergency responders arrived on the scene. The structure looks like a house, he explained, but is actually an apartment building with units on the first and second floors, at at the basement level.
He said some remodeling was going on at the building and there were no occupants inside.
There were “some tools [inside the building] but nobody lived there,” Terzo explained.
The fire destroyed that structure, the chief said, calling the damage “pretty bad.”
No injuries were reported and the cause of the blaze is currently under investigation.
Terzo said there is “no reason to expect this was anything other than an accident” at this time.
The two homes on either side of that building were also affected, sustaining some fire and water damage, he said.
The family in the home on the south side of the apartment building was displaced after flames licked that structure. While it was not completely destroyed, the fire and water damage led to the home not being habitable right now, Terzo explained.
The home on the north side of the destroyed apartment building has water damage. But, the chief said, the family that lives there is able to stay in the home while the damage is repaired.
The chief said the fire at the apartment building was struck less than an hour after firefighters arrived on scene. However, crews remained to check for hot spots and other impacts.
Elmwood Park got assistance from the River Grove, Franklin Park, Norwood Park, River Forest and Rosemont fire departments, said Terzo.
