A Chicago man died in a Sunday night apartment fire in which a firefighter was, for a brief time, cut off from his crew.
Mirostaw Dziemidowicz was found unresponsive in the bedroom of his home in a Chicago two-flat, listed at 3312 N. Lawndale Ave.
Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said the 60-year-old was taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital in critical
condition after being found in full cardiac arrest. He died a short time later.
Shortly after the fire started, a mayday response and a still-and-box alarm was called when a firefighter briefly became separated from his group.
Langford said the firefighter who was among the first to arrive at the blaze and briefly cut off from his fellow firefighters as they began tamping down the flames with hand-held fire extinguishers before hoses could be added to the effort.
The fire spread quickly and briefly trapped the firefighter, but he managed to get out safely and was uninjured.
The fire was mostly contained to the building’s first floor, where Dziemidowicz lived. There was no report on the condition of the residents on the second floor.
