A veteran Chicago firefighter may have collapsed from a heart attack while fighting a fire in a North Side high-rise Tuesday morning.
The 30-year veteran of the Chicago Fire Department collapsed while fighting the fire on the 12th floor of a building at 3950 N. Lake Shore Drive. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in serious-to-critical condition after paramedics performed CPR. He's since been upgraded to fair condition.
The fire lieutenant is 50 years old and is assigned to a downtown fire company, the department said.
A resident of the building was also taken to the hospital in fair-to-serious condition with smoke inhalation, but has also since improved to fair condition.
Firefighters and five ambulances were called around 10:45 a.m. for a fire in the 24-story building and Irving Park Road and Lake Shore Drive. The fire was under control shortly before noon.
Heavy smoke was reported on the 12th floor, and residents from that floor and several floors above were briefly evacuated via a stairwell, Curtis said.
Fire Chief Patrick Donnelly said the fire may have started with a microwave's electrical cord in a 12th floor unit, the Chicago Tribune reported.
