Residents return to fire-damaged condos in Rolling Meadows

Residents at a Rolling Meadows condominium complex were able to temporarily return to their units on Tuesday to pick up essential belongings like clothing and medicine following a fire there a day before.

But it could be "a while" until residents at the 87-unit Carriageway Court condominiums

building are able to return permanently, said Bill DeMille, president of Chicagoland Management and Realty, the property owner. He said about 100 people were displaced as a result of the fire in the 5200 block of Carriageway Drive off Algonquin Road east of Route 53.

Residents on site Tuesday afternoon estimated it could take as many as two months to return permanently to their units.

Workers on Tuesday were constructing a temporary roof to prevent rainfall into the open center of the building, where most of the fire damage had been sustained.

The American Red Cross was considering opening a shelter Tuesday evening for displaced residents, if need be. On Monday, 54 residents had spent the night at the Rolling Meadows Holiday Inn, according to the Rolling Meadows Police Department. Others stayed with area family members.

The Red Cross had met with four families and planned to meet with two others who needed further assistance, said Maria Corral, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago.

Lafitt Salazar, who lives with his sister's family at the condominium complex, was one of the residents who returned to pick up belongings on Tuesday. He said they were going to be staying with family in Algonquin.

Paul Kolodziej, 21, also came back to pick up essentials on Tuesday. He said he's staying with family in Chicago, and would be commuting to Harper College in Palatine, where he is taking summer classes.

A cause of the fire has not been determined and the investigation is continuing, said Deputy Chief Brian Dempsey of the Rolling Meadows Fire Department. The blaze started at about 11:15 a.m. Monday in a third-floor residence and spread to storage units on the fourth floor.

One firefighter suffered minor injuries Monday, and was treated and released from Northwest Community Hospital. Dempsey said a total of 24 suburban fire departments helped respond to the fire on Monday.