Palatine condo fire 'Five minutes from being a tragedy'
Inspectors are combing through a Palatine condominium building Wednesday for clues as to what started an overnight fire that displaced hundreds of residents, severely burned one man and caused minor injuries to three firefighters.
The 75-unit, six-story San Tropai building at 1275 E. Baldwin Lane was condemned temporarily by the village of Palatine Wednesday morning, preventing residents from going back inside without a police escort.
Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Gratzianna said the fire, which started in a top-floor unit at 4:42 a.m., could have been much worse were it not for a few lucky breaks.
"It was one of those fires that was five minutes from being a tragedy," Gratzianna said. "We are lucky that it was contained to one unit. And if the wind would have been blowing in a different direction it would have been nasty."
Gratzianna said firefighters arrived on scene six minutes after alarms went off and aggressively attacked the fire at its source. He said the flames burned extremely hot in the unit where the fire started.
"It just destroyed the room," Gratzianna said. "You couldn't tell where furniture was because it was reduced to ash."
The heat of the fire even bent structural supports on the roof above the unit, he added.
In addition to the heat, the fire poured smoke onto the building's fifth and sixth floors, making the job of evacuating residents more difficult.
Gratzianna said firefighters rescued at least one resident who did not leave when the alarms went off. Two other residents who were unable to escape through hallways were rescued from their balconies with ladder trucks, Gratzianna said.
the fire was brought under control at 5:23 a.m., officials said.
Iryna Tsenglevich, a member of the San Tropai condominium association board, said once the alarms went off, residents were knocking on their neighbors' doors, making sure everybody got out.
"Everything was really organized, no panic," Tsenglevich said.
Once outside, residents checked to see who had made it out and tried to determine who may have been missing, she added.
Gratzianna said the resident who suffered serious injuries lived in the unit where the fire is believed to have started. The man suffered second- and third-degree burns, and was transferred from Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights to the Burn Center at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.
One of the injured firefighters was treated and released from Northwest Community Hospital. Several residents were treated on the scene for minor injuries, Gratzianna said.
Because the building was without electricity and other services, it was condemned by the village temporarily. Most were escorted inside by police and fire personnel so they could gather clothes and pick up essential belongings.
Tsenglevich gave high praise to emergency crews, as well as the second wave of support. That included the Red Cross and Salvation Army, which brought food to displaced residents.
"This community is the best, we all came together today," Tsenglevich said.
It isn't yet known when the residents will be able to return to their homes, but Tsenglevich said they will do as the village and building management says.
"As much as I want to sleep in my unit today, if they tell me I can't, I will not," she said. "(Police and fire) were so nice, they were really professional, it's just like I'm so lucky that we live in this country."