Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters from nine different departments responded to a two-alarm fire at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night on the 600 block of North Humphrey Avenue. Two residents inside were found unconscious and had to be rescued by firefighters. They were transferred to area hospitals. (Photos provided by Allen Matthews)
Firefighters rescued a man and a young boy from a two-alarm fire that broke out at 628 N. Humphrey Ave. about 11:30 p.m., Thursday night, according to Oak Park Fire Department Deputy Chief Peter Pilafas.
It took about an hour to get the fire under control, Pilafas said, but not before the blaze spread to two adjacent residential two-flat buildings and causing significant damage to 628 and 630 N. Humphrey.
Firefighters found the 54-year-old man and 6-year-old boy unconscious on the second floor of the structure. The man was transported to West Suburban Medical Center and the boy to Loyola University Medical Center. Pilafas did not have details about their condition but said both suffered from smoke inhalation.
He did not have details on how many people were evacuated from the three buildings, but noted that the man and boy were the only two who did not get out in a timely fashion.
Pilafas said nine area fire departments assisted in extinguishing the blaze, which appears to have started in the back porch area of the building at 628.
“Upon arrival, the fire company saw heavy fire coming out of the rear of the structure,” said Pilafas.
Most of the fire damage to three structures was located in the rear. The buildings at 628 and 630 N. Humphrey experienced significant damage — the roofs of the two buildings collapsed — and the building at 626 suffered exterior damage, Pilafas said.
“The fire spread because our initial crews were focused on life safety and rescuing the two victims who were in there,” he said.
The fire department is investigating the cause of the fire, according to Pilafas.
Allen Matthews, a resident who lives about half a block away from the fire, said he was awakened shortly after the fire started by the sound of emergency vehicles arriving on the scene.
He witnessed firefighters enter the blue home at 626 N. Humphrey and retrieve the two victims. Matthews said he was told by a reporter at the scene that another woman lived in the building but was not seriously injured though she suffered some burns.
“All of the professionals, the police and firemen, were just cool, calm and collected and doing their jobs effectively and efficiently,” he said.
Village President Anan Abu-Taleb visited the site of the fire, Friday morning, to show support for the families displaced by the fire.
Abu-Taleb said he was told by authorities at the scene that the two rescued victims are in critical condition and that the adult male has been transferred to Loyola University Medical Center.
Upon taking office in 2013, the village president requested that the fire department notify him when a major fire breaks out in the village and that police notify him in the event of a homicide in Oak Park.
“For me it’s really important to show up to these cases and basically be supportive,” he said.
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