85-year-old woman in critical condition today after Schaumburg fire

An 85-year-old woman was in critical condition Saturday morning after an apartment fire in Schaumburg, authorities said.

The fire was reported about 5:45 a.m. on the fourth floor of a seven-story building at 1234 Valley Lake Drive, fire Captain John Steele said. The fire originated in the bedroom of the apartment where the injured woman lived, he said.

The woman had burns to her chest and was taken to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates, then was transferred to the burn center at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood with possibly life-threatening injures, said Schaumburg police Sgt. John Nebl.

The injured woman was described by neighbors as a nice lady who used a walker and frequently offered rides to others in her car. She had adult children but lived alone, resident Laura Arpino said.

“She was alert when they took her out on a stretcher,” said Arpino. Schaumburg police said they will not release the woman’s name.

Resident Bayar Ts said that when he heard the fire alarm he immediately evacuated his apartment with his wife and two children.

“When we got out, I looked up at the fourth floor and saw a bunch of fire,” he said.

Resident Prabhu Jayuapal said many realized the fire alarm was serious when a closed-circuit camera system connected to residents’ TVs showed members of the fire department in the lobby, helping residents evacuate the building.

About 140 families live in the building, Steele said. Many spent the next few hours in the clubhouse of the Village in the Park complex where the building is located.

The fire was contained quickly, and fire damage was limited to the fourth-floor apartment where the blaze started, Steele said. The hallway suffered some smoke damage, he added.

A water main break caused flooding in some apartments and required authorities to shut off electricity to the affected building, Steele said. “The water main break did not affect our efforts,” he said.

The public works department was still working to repair the break by 12:30 p.m. No residents are allowed back into their apartments until water and electricity are restored to the building, Nebl said.

The unit below suffered water damage and windows of other apartments were broken to allow smoke to escape, Nebl said.

Residents from six apartments will be displaced because of damage, Nebl said. The Red Cross worked to relocate residents, and an investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.

Twenty area fire departments assisted, Nebl said.

Ÿ Daily Herald staff writer Marie Wilson contributed.