Elgin apartment complex evacuated after fire

About 110 people won't be able to spend the Thanksgiving holiday at home after they were evacuated early Wednesday morning due to a small fire in an apartment complex near downtown Elgin.

The Elgin Fire Department responded at 3:02 a.m. to a call about the smell of smoke coming from the laundry room of River's Landing Apartments at 5 Times Square, Battalion Chief Robb Cagann said in a news release.

There were no injuries, but one person who was on a ventilation machine was taken to the hospital after the building's gas and electricity were shut off.

Firefighters found a light haze of smoke in the laundry and furnace rooms, and found a small fire below the furnace room floor in a crawl space. Firefighters cut through the concrete floor and controlled the fire within 45 minutes.

Thirty-eight units were evacuated because smoke had traveled throughout the building. The Elgin Police Department worked with the building's management to arrange alternative housing for displaced tenants.

The building will remain closed for at least six days as smoke residue clears and repairs are performed, including to a door knocked down by firefighters, a worker from Meadowdale Management Company said Wednesday.

Resident Maria Cortez, who is among the displaced, said the commotion started a half-hour after she got home from work.

"I smelled smoke, like burning wood, but I thought it was the heating at first," she said.

Her husband went to work at about 4 a.m. and Cortez stayed with a neighbor for the day. The couple will figure out which relatives to stay with for the next few days, she said. "It's really too bad this happened now," she said.

Cagann said the damage was estimated at $10,000.