Firefighter hurt, 29 residents displaced in Elgin apartment fire
A maintenance crew installing a hot water heater sparked a fire at an Elgin apartment complex Tuesday afternoon, injuring one firefighter and displacing at least 29 people, fire officials and witnesses said.
Fire crews were called to the 600 block of Wing Street about 12:42 p.m. and cleared the scene about 3 p.m., said Elgin Fire Department Captain Tim Maroder.
One firefighter was taken to Sherman Hospital for heat exhaustion and a woman was taken away in an ambulance after suffering a seizure unrelated to the fire, Maroder said.
Police and fire crews closed off Wing Street at State and near North Crystal streets as firefighters put out the blaze.
Preliminary indications are that a maintenance crew installing a hot water heater may have sparked the fire, Maroder said. A damage estimate was not immediately available.
The fire started in an end unit in one of the two, six-unit buildings at the Wing Court apartment complex then spread to other units through the attic.
"Three apartments are completely gutted, burned through the roof. We had to pull the ceilings down on all three," Maroder said. "From there it moved north and got in the attic of the next two so we had three (apartment units) involved. The other building was unaffected.
"The guys made a tremendous stop - they really did," he added. "It was a great save."
Willard Leach said he was watching his grandson at an apartment when maintenance workers from the Elgin Public Housing Authority came to install a new hot water heater. Leach said the workers accidentally ignited wall insulation as they were trying to solder pipes together. Despite using two fire extinguishers, they were unable to contain the flames.
"The insulation caught on fire," said Leach, who later called fire crews. "It just traveled all the way up to the roof. Everybody got out OK. Everybody's fine."
The fire displaced six adults and 23 children living in one of the two buildings, which each house six, three-bedroom units.
Heather Saletri, who lives in the building not affected by the fire, was relieved she would not be displaced again. She moved to the complex in December after her last residence was hit by fire.
Saletri said she was sitting around this afternoon when she saw commotion from workers trying in vain to put out the fire.
"I just saw some smoke coming out of the roof and workers coming out of the building," she said. "It kept catching."
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