An elderly man is expected to fully recover after a firefighter pulled him out of the second story of a burning home in Chicago's South Side Pullman neighborhood Tuesday morning.
When firefighters responded to the blaze in the two-and-a-half story home in the 700 block of East 105th Place just before 9 a.m., people who had managed to get out said there was someone still inside, Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said.
Several firefighters entered the home and found the 76-year-old man in a room on the second floor, Langford said. Unconscious and barely breathing, Lt. Mark Caveletti carried the victim down a ladder through a front window, a rescue that was captured on video.
Paramedics brought the man to Roseland Community Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition, though breathing on his own, Langford said.
A pit bull was also rescued from the home and will also survive. Police say the dog was headed upstairs, possibly trying to alert the victim.
The cause of the fire is believed to be electrical. Annette Garner, who lives in the building, says she woke up to the smell of smoke and started screaming for everyone to get out.
"So black, it so bad and so smoky ... just pitch black in there," Garner said. "Everyone knew the old man was up there. We were telling the fire department."
Local
No one else was hurt in the blaze, officials said.
