Chicago Officers Rescue Residents From Nearby Fire

Six Chicago police officers are being called heroes after they sprang into action Monday to help four residents evacuate a building filling with smoke from a next-door fire on the West Side.

Two officers were out on patrol and had just pulled over a vehicle for a traffic stop just before 8 p.m. on the 4100 block of West Division when a passing driver told them a building was on fire down the block. The business on fire was closed, but apartments next door were quickly filling with smoke.

The men, along with four other officers from the 25th District, ran into the smoking building and started banging on doors to get everyone out.

"At that time myself and officer Morales entered the building and began knocking on doors, evacuating the building," said responding officers Joe Deferville. "When we got to the second and third floors, we were encountered by heavier smoke."

That's where the group found a mom and her 5-year-old daughter. The officers escorted the woman and carried the girl down the stairs to safety and helped two others, including a visually impaired elderly man, evacuate as well.

"We were able to escort him down the stairs and relocate everyone on the South Side of the street to safety out of harm's way," Deferville said, "at which time we put them in our patrol units, waiting for the fire personnel to arrive on the scene."

All six officers went through the building as it was filling with smoke to make sure everyone got out safely.

No one was hurt in the fire.

Contact Us