CHICAGO — An apartment building fire killed at least four people Saturday morning on the city’s North Side, authorities said.
One other man was injured when he jumped to safety from a third floor window, said Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
The fire appears to have started in a front stairwell but there were no obvious ignition sources, and the Police Department’s Bomb and Arson Unit was investigating, Langford said. The unit routinely is sent to fatal fires, said police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak.
Firefighters were on the scene within about two minutes after the fire was reported, just before 7 a.m. The blaze was contained to the second and third floors and extinguished within a half-hour.
Three victims were found in one apartment and one was found in a second apartment, Langford said.
The three-story brick building has about a dozen units and stands about a block from Wrigley Field.
The man who jumped was listed in stable condition at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Langford said. Several firefighters suffered minor injuries, including smoke inhalation.