A firefighter and seven people were injured early Saturday morning after a fire spread through a two-story motel on Chicago's south side, leaving the building a "total loss."
Calls of the fire at the Lake Motel, at 9101 S. Stony Island Ave., came into emergency officials at about 3:30 a.m., said Fire Media Affairs spokesman Will Knight
Initially a two-alarm fire, the blaze was upgraded to three-alarms about a half hour later.
Knight said it spread through a ventilation system up into the second floor of the motel. The fire was put out shortly before 9 a.m.
The building was "a total loss," Knight said.
One firefighter and seven occupants of the hotel were rescued and hospitalized, Knight said.
Four people were taken to Trinity Hospital and three people were taken to Jackson Park Hospital, Knight said. All of their injuries are believed to be minor. The firefighter was taken in stable condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Another 25 people -- 18 adults and seven kids were rescued from the motel and put on Chicago Transit Authority warming buses.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
