A six-story apartment building on the 800 block of North Lake Street in Aurora was left uninhabitable following a fire on Monday, according to a news release from the Aurora Fire Department.
Aurora Chief of Staff Shannon Cameron said on Wednesday that only one of the apartment complex’s two buildings was impacted by the fire.
Around 135 residents were affected based on a list the city was given by the building’s property manager, but Cameron noted that the list may not accurately reflect the number of people living in the building at the time of the fire.
The building’s property management company provided hotel accommodations in Yorkville for residents of the building, Cameron said, noting that residents on the first four floors of the building may be able to move back in next week. The timeline may be longer for the fifth and sixth floors because of the smoke damage from the fire, officials said.
The fire occurred at around 3:47 p.m. Monday at the apartment building on Aurora’s West Side, the news release said. Firefighters arriving at the scene found heavy fire coming from a unit on the fifth floor and smoke spreading to the sixth floor.
Some residents were already evacuating, and others remained in their apartments under firefighters’ direction, the release noted.
The responding crews deployed hose lines using the building’s standpipe system and started searches on the affected floors, per the news release. Additional companies were assigned to do stairwell checks, rapid intervention and ventilation of the upper floors and stairwells, according to the release.
A girl, 15, was treated for smoke inhalation due to the fire and taken to the hospital, the release said. Two cats were rescued from the apartment where the fire occurred and given oxygen by first responders, officials said.
The fire was ultimately brought under control 13 minutes after the initial call, but the building was deemed uninhabitable because of the smoke, fire and water damage, per the news release.
A total of 41 fire department personnel responded to the fire, and crews remained on the scene for several hours assisting residents in retrieving their belongings and working with the Red Cross, Victim Services and property management to secure the building, according to the release.
