Eighteen people were displaced and a firefighter was injured in an extra-alarm fire that destroyed one home and damaged two others on Chicago's South Side.
Homeowner Janice Hooper said firefighters were at her home, on the 7300 block of South Paulina Street, late Wednesday because she smelled smoke. Firefighters didn't find anything but returned at about 1 a.m. to find flames shooting out of Hooper's front door and through her roof.
The flames spread to a home and apartment building adjacent to Hooper's home, ultimately displacing 18 people, according to the American Red Cross.
None of the residents, which included five children, were injured but one firefighter was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn after slipping on ice. He was not seriously injured.
One resident lamented at the loss of her belongings but shed tears when a firefighter came out with her six-month-old kitten.
"I feel so happy to have her but I'm just so sad that everything that we had is gone," said Samia Hooper.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation as of 5:30 a.m.
