Chicago high-rise building fire leaves 7 hospitalized, including baby in criticial condition

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The Chicago Fire Department responds to an explosion

The Chicago Fire Department responds to an explosion in a residential area (Chicago Fire Department)

• Seven people, including a baby in critical condition, were hospitalized following a fire in a Chicago high-rise building on Wednesday afternoon.
• Firefighters conducted ladder rescues outside the building as occupants hung out of windows.
• The fire reportedly started in a kitchen on the second floor of the 14-story building in the South Shore neighborhood.

Seven people were hospitalized, including a baby in critical condition, after a fire Wednesday afternoon in a Chicago high-rise building, fire officials said.

Seven people, including the baby, were rushed to area hospitals, Chicago Fire Department First District Chief Jim McDonough said at a news conference.

Four other children were taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good and fair conditions, fire officials said.

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One person jumped from a fourth-floor window and was hospitalized in fair condition, officials said. A seventh person was taken to Trinity Hospital in good condition.

Seven people, including a baby, were rushed to area hospitals after a fire on Wednesday, Chicago Fire Department First District Chief Jim McDonough said. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Firefighters also performed ladder rescues on the outside of the building while people hung out of windows.

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Firefighters were called just before 4 p.m. to the blaze in a 1920s-era high-rise in the South Shore neighborhood. The fire started in a kitchen in a unit on the second floor of the 14-story building, McDonough said.

There was heavy smoke from the second floor on up, McDonough said.