Disaster averted in Wheeling senior housing fire

Authorities say a sprinkler system helped avert disaster last week when fire broke out in a Wheeling senior housing facility.

Wheeling fire crews were called to the Addolorata Villa Senior Living Community, 557 McHenry Road, about 6:30 p.m. Thursday, in response to the fire.

The first firefighters to arrive found two fire sprinkler heads extinguishing a bedroom fire in a third-floor apartment of the four-story facility.

The resident of the unit was rescued by firefighters and admitted to a hospital for nonlife-threatening injuries, officials said. Firefighters and police evacuated several residents safely.

A Wheeling firefighter was admitted to Glenbrook Hospital in Glenview and kept overnight for observation of medical issues, according to the fire department.

The building where the fire started houses more than 100 residents and is one of four interconnected buildings at the facility, officials said. If not for the sprinkler system, it is likely the fire would have caused fatalities, Fire Chief Keith MacIsaac said in a news release.

The cause of the fire is being investigated, but officials do not believe it was suspicious.