Two fires broke out minutes apart overnight on the same block in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, fire officials said.
The first blaze was reported in an alley on the 500 block of South Laflin just north of 56th Street. A few minutes later, a witness on the scene told NBC Chicago that another fire started across the street.
A fire department spokesperson said it's too early to say whether the fires were the result of arson or if the two blazes were connected, but neighbors said the pair of fires looks suspicious.
The woman who lives at the Laflin address said she was in bed when a neighbor ran over to wake her up and inform her of flames behind her house. When firefighters arrived they found a mattress on fire in the alley.
They kept the blaze from spreading, but as they worked to extinguish it, a second call came in for a fire at a residence on the same street. In this fire, flames were seen shooting out of a three-story house.
Everyone was able to make it out on time. Six people were displaced.
"It's scary," said Barbara Nicholas. "I don't know how two fires could've been set simultaneously. It doesn't look like it started ordinarily."
